



4 k 


' ... ' 









'.r« * 

.S'. 


' 


• I ^ 

: v rrsuifa 





















































- 








» 













































ADDRESS 


ReY, CHARGES M, SRIMCK, A, M, 

-AT THE— 



NORWALK, CONN., 


JULY 15, 1886, 


■ NkC 

/i\ 




sr o< 






APR V) 1887 


NORWALK ; 

THE HOUR PRINTING OFFICE, 



Copyrighted 1887, by Charles M. Selleck. All rights reserved. 


> 


\ 








-'£> X 

IZ6S 


DESCRIPTION OF THE CUT. 


It should he remembered that the engraving on the opposite page represents 

the old churchyard. 

Disc No. 1, Goold Hoyt’s sepulcher. 

“ “ 2, Captain Benjamin Isaacs’ tablet. 

“ “ 3, Mrs. Ann Kemper’s monument. 

“ “4, The Cannon vault. 

“ “ 5, The St. John vault. 

“ “ 6, The Isaacs vault. 

“ “ 7, The Belden vault. 

The mound under the central tree (front) should stand close to the walk 
and at figure 4. 

Discs 5 and 7 should be nearer together. 

The Jarvis tomb is near the (former and present) chancel. 






/ 


TO THE MEMORY OF 

WILLIAM COOFER MEAD ; D. D., LL. D. 


HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 


H|HERE are, we presume, none who belong to this parish whom 
w the services to-day fail to interest; but any record which is the 
exhibit of efforts made and achievements won at the cost of pains 
and privations, contains an element of interest to which the 
stranger can hardly listen with indifference. It is felt, therefore, 
that no apology is needed for asking the attention of all here as- 
sembled to the recital of the doings of this ancient church organ- 
ization during the one hundred years this month elapsed. 

That when the sun had ended its duty on that memorable day in 
our local annals in July, 1779, night should have mantled so 
few of the home domiciles which the morning had saluted, is but 
another way of saying that our fathers, at that juncture, were 
in dire straits. With hearthstones in ashes and storehouses burn- 
ed and crops destroyed and business broken up, the situation was 
a trying one and the spectacle calculated to excite emotion : 
still, while men of stern courage may not feel disposed to speak in 
jest of scars, neither are they the ones to court condolence. To 
have made proffer of this to such an heroic one as he,* who, offi- 
ciating on the third Sunday after the declaration of American in- 
dependence, not within but just outside of what was once con- 
sidered the jurisdiction of this parish,! and who, proceeding with 
the service in the face of armed men who had followed him into 
the sanctuary, would and did not close his prayer-book until ap- 
proached and compelled to desist ; or to have offered sympathy 
in the day of faith’s trial to such a loyal one as he,| who, born 
here in 1720, and dying in 1786, left a rich legacy to a church 
folk, the income from which is to this hour enjoyed, but by none 
of our communion ; to assure of sympathy such fearless and filial 
sons of the church as were some who have left us, would be to 
call forth the valorous response, “our greatest regret, many 
times over, is that will and wealth are so much less than are op- 
portunities for employing the same. ” 

*The Rev. Epenetus Townsend. “Mr. Townsend with all his family (wife 
and five children) were lost in a ship which sunk in its passage to Halifax.” 
Propagation Society abstracts for 1779. As quoted by Rev. Robert Bolton. 

tLower Salem, Westchester county, New York. 

JJames Brown, Esq. 


8 


Between the fathers of the last century and their fathers fifty 
years before, there was a marked family resemblance. They were 
not of the smart and rattling order, perhaps, nevertheless their 
story is fresh and vigorous, and their example a wholesome one. 
They were earnest men. The Beldens and the Bettses and the 
Boutons, the Camps and the Cannons and the Churches, the Hoyts 
and the Isaacs and the Jarvises, the Nashes and the Reeds 
and the Warrens of 1779-90 were no negatives. Like the 
John Beldens and the Jonathan Camps and the William Jar- 
vises of the previous generation they said and they did in no 
equivocal way ; they believed in the church of which they were 
members ; their creed was a positive quantity, and it might 
without any strain upon the truth be asserted, possibly of all 
of them, that they were endowed with the belief of every syllable 
of it. And they did earnest work, as we might expect such men 
would do. Their ancestors held a meeting in 1742* and deter- 
mined, before the parish was six years old, to erect a new edifice 
— the one that was burned. And even the diction of their vote 

was energetic, “that said building be forthwith carried on.” 
And it is creditable to the men of 1779 and a triumph of their 
energy and faith that, before the next twelve month had perform- 
ed its abdication, they had held a meetingt and called a clergy- 
man and resolved to build, and albeit so greatly reduced, had 
generously subscribed for, their third habitation in forty- 
three years for the Lord God of Hosts. It is a no mean com- 
mentary this. The men of ’86, a century ago, did nobly, and it is 
right on this occasion to recollect what they did. We proceed to 
particularize concerning them ; remarking that our notice of them 
constitutes, unavoidably, a string of sketches rather than a logi- 
cally connected recital, and speaking first of the clergy of the past 
one hundred years. 

Jeremiah Learning, D. D.,{ having in the orderings of God’s 
providence vacated St. Paul’s in 1779, it was for some four and 
one half years afterwards ministered to at intervals by the rector 
of the neighboring parish of St. John’s, Stamford. § This vener- 

♦November 30th, at the house of Capt. Joseph Ketchum,on the Jarvis corner. 

tOctober 27th, 1780, at the house of Thomas Bolden, on the Governor Bissell 
corner. 

tBorn in Middletown, Yale graduate, class of 1745 ; sailed for England, and 
there received Holy Orders in 1747 ; died September 15th, 1804, at the age of 
87, and buried in New Haven. 

§Ebenezer Dibble, D. D., oldest son of Wakefield Dibble, of Danbury ; 
Yale graduate, class of 1734 ; degrees of A. M., and S. T. D., from Yale, degree 
of D. D. from Columbia College, 1793. Went in 1747 to England for Holy Or- 
ders. Is described — see Bolton’s Westchester County, Vol. I, page 744 — as 
a venerable man of dignified appearance, his long white locks flowing grace- 
fully over his shoulders. 


9 


able man of seventy- three began work in that parish in 1 748, di- 
viding his labors between it and Norwalk and Ridgefield and the 
north-eastern portion of Westchester county in the colony of 
New York. At the close of the revolutionary war he settled per- 
manently in Stamford, where his many excellencies of brain and 
heart were recognized, and he was revered and beloved until his 
death in 1799.* It was during his incumbency of that important 
cure that he remembered us in the days of the burning, and in 
the words of a another “often officiated for us.”+ 

In 1774 the Rev. John Bowden} was called at a salary of £85 per 
annum to the rectorship, and the parish was fortunate enough to 
secure the acceptance of the call. Dr. Bowden was not a half- 
learned writer, neither a speaker wdiose flow of words was in ad- 
vance of a flow of thought, but a man of rare parts, and even at 
the age of thirty-five a ripe scholar. He was accomplished in 
morals and philosophy as well as theology, and the pulpit under 
his occupancy of it was the vehicle of vivid expositions of 
truth. At the same time, while he was of striking intellect, yet 
was he gifted with a remarkable share of common sense, and into 
no better hands could the parish have committed its new enter- 
prise. Within a few months after his arrival the vote was passed 
to build of the dimensions of the former church, and a committee of 
nine appointed and allowed eighteen days wherein to report. The 
work was pushed ; two were added to the committee, and although 
it was winter yet the forests must have been searched and sills, 
posts, joists and plates selected and hewn and drawn, as the ac- 
tion of March 28th, that coming spring, ran “that the carpenters 
begin the framing of the church on Monday next, the weather 
permitting.” Dr. Bowden saw the structure, a goodly one for 
the day, completed and consecrated. He saw set out these trees 
which to-day wave so proudly over the spot ; and he remained 
here, not in the indulgence of lettered tastes which to no man of 
that time would have been more of a delight, but in planting and 
preaching and ministering and laboring, until 1789, in the autumn 
of which year, worn and in need of rest, he sailed for the island 
of St. Croix, and upon his return to this country opened at Strat- 

*Thursday, May 9th : funeral attended by a large concourse of people. 

tHe had four children. Ebenezer, the oldest, was born in 1737, and 
Frederick the youngest in 1753. Frederick graduated at Kings, now Colum- 
bia College, and removing after the revolution to New Brunswick became 
rector of Woodstock. He died in 1838 in Woodstock, aged 83, leaving seven 
sons and six daughters. 

{Formerly assistant minister in Trinity Church, New York city. 


10 


ford a school for boys which he continued until 1796, when he was 
called to the principalship of the Episcopal Academy in Cheshire, 
which office he immediately accepted. In October following he 
was unanimously elected Bishop of Connecticut ; but on account of 
impaired health he declined the high honor and remained in 
Cheshire until 1802, when he accepted the chair of moral philos- 
ophy and belles lettres offered him by the faculty of Columbia 
College. This position was congenial to him and he filled it until 
compelled by infirmity to surrender it, and the life story of the 
first rector of the first church consecrated by Bishop Seabury in 
this country, is epitomised in the latin epitaph of a gently raised 
tablet which stands in the quiet cemetery of Ballston, Saratoga 
county, New York, and which reads : “ The Trustees of Colum- 
bia College, New York, set up this marble, sacred to the memory 
of John Bowden, T). D., professor of moral philosophy and polite 
literature in the said college. By birth he was an Irishman, by 
training an American, in benevolence a citizen of the whole 
world. From the first a son and strenuous defender of the 
Church of England, its truly catholic faith he taught, inculcated, 
expounded, declared in his writings, adorned in his life. Having 
diligently performed his collegiate offices, honored, or rather lov- 
ed by all, at length, worn out by years and labors, he departed 
this life at the age of 66 years, on the last day of July, in the year 
of redemptionl817.”* 

The parish, at a meeting held Sept. 21st, 1789, passed that a 
committee should wait upon the Rev. Mr. Foot, at that time vis- 
iting in the place, to ascertain whether he would assume its tem- 
porary care. The committee reporting that he would remain for 
six months, the meeting adjourned with a vote binding the en- 
gagement and the receiving from the retiring Dr. Bowden, who 
was present, the generous donation of twenty pounds sterling. 
Mr. Foot’s term of engagement expired, and on the first Tuesday 
in May, 1790, the Rev. George Ogilvief was chosen rector of the 

*A copy of this epitaph was kindly forwarded to Norwalk by a Ballston 
friend. The date of Dr. Bowden’s death is rendered, as the author believes 
a native Roman would have read it, viz., July 31st. It is possible, however, to 
infer from the inscription, that the date referred to was August 1st, rather 
than the day before. 

tThe Rev. George Ogilvie, son of John Ogilvie, D. D., of Trinity church, N. 
Y., was born in 1758, and graduated at Kings College in 1774. He was oi'dained 
deacon by Bishop Provost and priest in 1790, (the year of his coming to 
Norwalk,) by Bishop Seabury. His first wife to whom he was married Sept. 
4, 1777, was Amelia Willett, of West Farms, Westchester County, N. Y. Two 
children were born to them, Elizabeth (Betsey), July 20, 1778, and Amelia, 
Dec. 13, 1779. Mrs. Amelia Ogilvie died March 18, 1780, and Mr. Ogilvie on 
July 28, 1782, married, for a second wife, Ann McWhorter, of Newark, N. J. A 
son (John), was born to them June 22, 1783, but died the next day, and the next 


11 


parish. It was during this rectorship that the new church of 1786 
was pewed and finished. John Cannon, Thomas Belden and 
Gould Hoyt supervised the work, and with inside and outside 
completed the structure was comely and for the era imposing. 
Its vaulted ceiling, with dependant chandeliers, its chaste pulpit, 
and cushioned desk, and neat communion table with circular rail, 
are still remembered; while its projecting chancel, and west end 
tower, and tasteful belfry and graceful spire, and, later, line of 
Lombardy poplars all rising from a carpet of living green, formed, 
as viewed from the common in front, a pleasing picture, and no 
wonder that it was the wish of so many of the fathers that at death 
they might be laid beside it. Mr. Ogilvie’s rectorship lacked but a 
few days of six years’ duration. His resignation took effect Oct. 23, 
1796, and the parish by unanimous vote called the Rev. Dr. Wil- 
liam Smith, of Trinity Church, Newport, R. I. Dr. Smith was 
not an incapable but a competent man. He was a thinker, and 
his writings attest that he thought to a purpose. He was the 
preacher at the consecration of Bishop Jarvis, and his sermon was 
hearty and weighty and created a commotion and was assailed, 
but the preacher’s potent reply proved that he understood his 
subject and could not be driven from his position, at least by fine 
sophistry or flash-light rhetoric. An incident interesting to the 
children of this parish, was his preparation, while here, of the 


cliild was a daughter, born January 6, 1786, who died on the second day after 
her birth. Mr. Ogilvie’s blood was that, it is claimed, of the Ogilvies of the 
Earldoms of Finlater and Seafield. An oil painting by Copley, (father of 
Lord Lyndhurst), of Mr. Ogilvie’s father, (Dr. John), is now in the possession 
of Trinity Parish, N. Y. He died about six months after leaving Norwalk, 
(April 3, 1797), and is buried in Rye, Westchester County, N. Y. His father 
lies in the Ogilvie vault, in Trinity Church yard, the vaults in which yard 
were ordered to be closed some time before the son’s death. Rev. George 
Ogilvie’s daughter, Elizabeth. (Betsey), married, Dec. 24, 1795. Thomas, son of 
Samuel Belden, (grandfather of Frederick Belden, Esq., of this town), and the 
nephew of Thomas Belden, the old church warden of the last century. Sam- 
uel Belden lived in Wilton, directly opposite St. Matthew’s Church, and he 
gave the land whereon that edifice stands. Thomas and Betsey Belden’s son 
George, (Hon. George O. Belden, United States congressman), was born March 
28, 1797, and married, on July 19, 1821, Miss Minerva Anne Heacock. This 
estimable lady, daughter of Elisha and Ann Heacock, of Washington, Litch- 
field County, Connecticut, is gratefully remembered in Norwalk. Her hus- 
band died about a half century ago; she survived him, and was the tender 
care of her daughter, Mrs. Anne E. Webster, of Washington, D. C., until Sep- 
tember 9, 1874. Miss Anne Eliza Belden. daughter of Hon. George O. and 
Minerva A. Belden, married in St. Michael’s Church, Litchfield, June 27, 1842, 
Edwin Belden Webster, Esq., of northern Connecticut. Their two sons are 
Lieutenant George Ogilvie Webster, who after a term of eight years professor- 
ship of military science in one of this nation’s colleges, has just been re-ap- 
pointed to the adjutancy in tlie United States Army, and Edwin Belden Web- 
ster, a Norwalk school boy, and now assistant paymaster in the United States 
Navy, and who has recently returned from the Government Alaska Expedi- 
tion of 1883. 

The Hev. George Ogilvie’s second daughter, Amelia, married John Com- 
stock, Esq., of New Canaan, the father of Mr. Comstock, so long of the 
Commercial House of Howland, Aspinwall & Co., of New York. 


12 


£ 

office of institution, which office was compiled in the old parson- 
age study, probably.* The propositions which Dr. Smith made to 
his wardens indicate that he looked upon the pastoral tie as did 
one,f who, thirty years later, was called to this field, but declin- 
ed it, assigning that the vows of institution are sacred, and he 
could not expect the blessing of Heaven upon the breach of them 
by relinquishing the charge he already had. His rectorship 
terminating in the fall of 180 !> , Dr. Smith removed to the City of 
New York and subsequently filled responsible positions in the 
church. Toward the close of life he returned to Norwalk and was 
the author of a treatise entitled Smith’s Primitive Psalmody. He 
died April 8, 1821, leaving five children, the second of whom took 
Seabury as one of his names. Three grandchildren survive; Wil- 
liam Duff', of Norwalk, Edward J., of Wisconsin, and Henry, of 
Ridgefield. + 

A young man of twenty -two, the Rev. Henry Whitlock, was Dr. 
Smith’s successor. He entered upon his duties Nov 8, 1890, and 
while still in deacon’s orders, but he so won the esteem of the 
people that assurance of his induction to the rectorship, upon re- 
ceiving priest’s orders, was given him. Henry Whitlock was of a 
cultivated and refined mind, and his disposition seems to have been 
trained. His life was consecrated to duty. He was faithful with- 
in the parish, and there is record of his baptizing the living and 
burying the dead far outside of it. § He was father-in-law of Rev. 
Dr. William Lupton Johnson, of Jamaica, L. I., and was in 
charge of St. Paul’s for about eleven years, after which he be- 
came rector of Trinity Church, New Haven. Brief life was his 
portion. He had gone south in quest of health, and died, in his 
thirty-eighth year, at Fayetteville, North Carolina, on Christmas 
day, 1814.11 

* Copies of the original compilation of the office of institution are still in 
existence. The efficient and courteous state librarian, Charles J. Hoadly, 
Esq., of Hartford, to whom the author of this document is under obligations, 
has a copy in his possession. 

. t Rev. William Crosswell. 

f Dr. Smith taught as principal in his own, and later in life, assistant in his 
son’s school in Norwalk. His wife died at her home in Norwalk, in 1820. He 
died in New York city, and is buried in Trinity Church yard. 

S He read the burial office, in 1805, on the occasion of the first interment (an 
ancestor of the present senior warden of St. Paul’s), in the burial ground on 
the ridge in New York state, eleven miles northwest of this parish, from 
which eminence Norwalk’s “white ascending’ ’spire is on a clear day distinctly 
to be seen 

I! Mr. Whitlock, whose wife was a sister of D. Starr Bartram, formerly of 
Norwalk, left several daughters : Mary Elizabeth, who married Rev. Dr. Wm. 
Lupton Johnson, assistant to Bishop Moore, of Richmond, Va., and rector of 
St. Michael’s, Trenton, N. J. ; for forty years, rector of Grace Church, 
Jamaica, L. I.; and Caroline, who married Isaac G. Seymour, a graduate 
of Yale College and West Point, and formerly editor of the New Orleans Bulle- 
tin, and who, having served with distinction in the Mexican and Indian wars. 


13 


In September, 1811, the Rev. Joseph Prentice was invited to 
officiate, but declined. At the close of the same month Dr. Bethel 
Judd* was asked to the headship of the parish. Dr. Judd seems 

*Son of Noah and Rebecca Judd, of Watertown, Connecticut, and born in 
May, 1776. He came of long-lived stock ; Ms father reached the age of eighty- 
six, and his mother ninety-nine, and himself, although dyspeptic, arrived 
close on to his eighty-third year of age. He was a Yale graduate, class of 1797 
and officiated in the dioceses of Connecticut, New York and Delaware, in the 
latter of which dioceses (at Wilmington,) he died “in great peace’’ April 8th, 
1858. In 1836-7 he resided in Norwalk and preached in Wilton. 


fell at the battle of Gaines Mill; Henrietta, who married a cotton mer- 
chant of New Orleans, and Lucy Ann, who died several years since in Ja- 
maica, L. I. He left one son of the firm, in 1836, of Knox, Whitlock & Rock- 
well, River street, Troy, N. Y. The firm was engaged in the dry goods trade, 
and was composed of Jno. LeGrand Knox, formerly of Norwalk, and Jno. Henry 
Whitlock and Gould Hockwell. Mr. John H. Whitlock died many years ago 
in Troy, and his wife (Miss Sarah Huntington), died this present year at New 
London, Conn. Mr. Gould Rockwell, the last surviving member of the Troy 
firm, was a zealous Trojan churchman, but is now a resident of Ridgefield, 
and valuably efficient in St. Stephen’s parish in that town. 

Extract from a manuscript letter penned, while a sufferer, by Mr. Whitlock 
to his parents a short time before he left upon his trip south in quest of health, 
and which contained his last words to them : 


New Haven, August 5th, 1814. 

“Honored and Dear Parents : 

I have not written you according to my wishes, having been, as I still am, 
very infirm. Having a fear that if I deferred much longer I should not be 
able to write at all, and so you would have never received another line from 
me, I have exerted myself the more to write. This is perhaps the last you 
will receive from mine own hand. Accept, my dearly beloved parents, my 
sincere acknowledgments for your parental kindness manifested toward me 
in countless instances from my infancy to the present time. * * * The 
Lord bless you. * * * With regard to my departure I rejoice in the belief 
that God will order the time of it in infinite wisdom and goodness; and he 
who opened a way through the river Jordan into the promised inheritance will 
not now be unmindful of his servants in that solemn hour when they are 
passing from the trials of the present life to the Heavenly inheritance. ‘Jor- 
dan shall be driven back.’ ‘An entrance shall be administed abundantly in- 
to the everlasting kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ.’ 

I desire greatly to see you all once more while I am in the body, but how 
much greater would be our joy to meet each other in a state of blessedness 
never more to be separated. There is an innumerable company of angels: 
there the spirits of just men made perfect; there is God the Father; there is 
Jesus Christ, the Meditator; there is the water of the well of life; there is re- 
freshment and rest. * * * I am very desirous of writing to my brothers 
and sisters but I shall not be able. Please to make my most affectionate love 
to them. * * * Please to exhort them all from me that a watchful, devout 
life, and a habitual perseverance in prayer, a daily study of God’s word, and 
a faithful attention to the duties of family worship, and also an attendance 
upon all the divine ordinances are necessary to our present and future peace. 
On what phantoms do they trust who set their affections on ‘the things on the 
earth.’ They toil for trifles and loose crowns of glory and riches unspeakable. 

* * * My health is feeble. * * * I may linger some weeks, I may ex- 
pire soon ; God’s will be done.” 

The letter is addressed on the outside: “Mr. John Whitlock, Castleton, 
Vermont.” 

Mr. Whitlock performed the trip south in a gig. His traveling companion 
was a young physician, Dr. Samuel Perry, of Norwalk. Dr. Perry was a 
nephew of the first Nehemiah Perry, of Ridgefield. There have been in 
Ridgefield three generations of physicians in the same family and of the 
same name: (Nehemiah, M. D., of 1886, being son of Nehemiah, 2d., and 
grandson of Nehemiah, 1st.,) all men of high character, and undeniable 
abilities, and who belonged to the class represented by Drs. Knight, Miller, 
Noyes, Haight, Nash, Betts, Butler, Bissell, McLean, Gregory and Lynes, of 
this town and county solid, important men, both as physicians and citizens, 
and whose memories have claim upon the gratitude of a large constituency. 



14 


to have been a man of prudent, patient wisdom, and one, who, in 
the administration of office, was faithful and conscientious. He 


The Perry house, in Norwalk, stood on one of the four corners, (northeast 
one), at the foot of the hill, west of St. Paul’s, or, as the records a century ago 
call it, “The hill between Dr. Learning’s and Ebenezer Lockwood’s,” the 
storing place in former times of ammunition and of the accouterments of 
battle. (In 1776 “two four pounders, and four three-pounders, and one hun- 
dred round shot to suit them; and grape shot in proportion,” were procured 
from Salisbury and kept there.) Dr. Samuel Perry’s mother was sister of Capt. 
Stephen Betts’ wife, and of Miss Betsey Church and her brothers. His sister 
married Richard H. Camp, Jr., and was the mother of Miss Eliza Camp and 
her sister Margaret, of France street. Dr. Perry returned to Norwalk and the 
next year he died and is buried here. 

Mr. Whitlock was so much beloved in Fayetteville, where he is interred, that 
a monument has there been raised to his memory. The parishes which he 
served have indeed cause, in the language of the Rev. Dr. E. E. Beardsley in 
his recent admirable article concerning him, to “be thankful that their 
history is adorned with the rectorship of such a cultivated and goodly man.” 

His monument reads : 


Here lies interred 
the mortal remains 
of the Rev. Henry Whitlock, A. M., 
late rector of Trinity Church, 
in the County of New Haven, 
and State of Connecticut, 
who, 

in the pursuit of fugitive health, 
when every other source of hope 
had failed, 

left all that his soul held 
most dear on earth, 
and here 

(in a land of strangers, alas), 
though cheered by every comfort, 
which the hand of hospitality could offer, 
fell a victim to the ravages 
of consumption, 
on the 25th of December, 

1814, 

in the 38th year of his age. 


O, Thou, 

whose feet have wandered 
to the silent abodes of the dead, 
and who, perchance, may read 
this tribute of respect and love, 
if purity of life, 

if guiltless simplicity of manners, 
if ardent piety, 

if zeal which burnt without consuming, 
if all the qualities which endear 
the husband, father, friend and pastor, 
have power to excite Thy sympathy 
and charm Thy soul, 
then drop a tear over his grave 
and emulate his virtues. 

Which inscription is the composition, it is supposed, of John Winslow, for- 
merly of Boston or its vicinity, who, removing to North Carolina about the be- 
ginning of the present century, established himself in business at Fayette- 
ville, and was one of the founders, in 1817, of the parish in that place. Mr. 
Winslow, who himself died, in 1820, received Mr. Whitlock into his family; 
and caused that after the stranger clergyman’s death his remains should be 
interred in his own well kept lot. The Rev. J. C. Huske, rector for the past 
thirty-five years at Fayetteville, mentions, in a letter enclosing a copy of the 
inscription, that it is entirely legible to-day. 


15 


was a man of staying qualities, and at one time was thought of as 
a successor to Bishop Jarvis. He was rector at Norwalk, and af- 
terwards at New London, and was one of a committee of seven 
appointed in 1819 to solicit from the Rev. Thomas Church Brown- 
ell, of Trinity Church, New York, the acceptance of the Bishopric 
of Connecticut. He was principal of the Cheshire Academy, and 
removed from the diocese in about 1835. His resignation was 
accepted September 27, 1813, and the Rev. Mr. Johnson* was 
called, w r ho was succeeded in 1814 by Dr. Judd again. 

The Rev. Reuben Sherwood, a deacon, followed Dr. Judd in 
1816. He was admitted in St. Paul’s church to the priesthood 
and in December, 1819, was instituted rector by Bishop Brown- 
ell. He knew what was needed in the parish and how to direct 
its forces; and of firm church principles and endowed with the 
spirit of power, his leading and his preaching were definite. 
The school which he conducted became celebrated. The Rev. 
Messrs. Allen C. Morganf and Norman Pinney]: assisted him, 
and among his pupils were the Rev. Dr. E. E. Beardsley, his- 
toriographer to the church, and Benjamin Ackerly, D. D., of 
Oakland, Cal., and Edward and Charles, § the sons of Commodore 
McDonough, of Lake Champlaine renown, and Isaac Bell, jr., 
son of one of Washington Irving’s characters, and Henry R. , and 
John S., sons of John; and Edward and Charles, sons of Francis 
B. Winthrop. Mrs. Sherwood was of the Rogers family* of Ship- 
pan Point, and the Revs. Abel and David Ogden were nephews 
of Dr. Sherwood.|| At the solicitation of Bishop Brownell he, 
in 1 830, resigned St. Paul’s to take charge of the Hartford High 
School, a sort of preparatory institution for Washington, now 
Trinity, College. If A longing for parish duty led him, in 1831, to 
Ulster county, N. Y. , in which county he was the first clergyman 
of the church known to have officiated. He resided four years 
at Saugerties and was in 1835 called to St. James’ Church, Hyde 
Park, where he remained until his death on Whit Sunday, 1856. 
It may be stated in connection with this notice of Dr. Sher- 

*The Rev. Evan M. Johnson, afterward rector of St. John’s Church, Brook- 
lyn, L. I. 

tCandidate in 1829 for Holy orders. 

t Afterward tutor in Trinity College, ordained deacon January 21st, 1827. 

§The MacDonough lads who are unforgotten in Norwalk, were quite young 
when they met with an irreperable loss— that of their parents, both parents 
died in the same year, the heroic and excellent father in his ship and upon 
the ocean, in the autumn of 1825, and the gifted mother just three months, 
lacking one day, previously. The Commodore died at the age of 42 and his 
wife at the age of 35. 

II See note, p. 16. 

IfSee note, p. 17. 


16 


wood, that he was the organizer of the Sunday School in this par- 
ish. The school first met in the gallery of the old church, and 
numbered, as far as can be ascertained, some fifty teachers and 
members. It is believed that not one of its teachers, among 
whom were Mrs. Jarvis Street and Miss Betsey Church, both of 
them too earnest and too devoted to be soon forgotten, is now liv- 
ing. The last survivor was the late Edwin Hoyt. Jarvis Street, 
who was active in the parish, had charge of the school instruction 
books.* 

*The late Miss Amelia Belden was connected with this school ; also the 
present Mrs. Jonathan Camp, and Mr. Josiah Raymond. 

IIThe following is an exact copy of a programme 61 years old : 


SCHEME 

OF THE 

EXERCISES AT THE EXHIBITION 

OF THE 


EPISCOPAL ACADEMY, 


IN NORWALK, OCT. 12, 1825. 


1. Music 

2. Latin Oration, by John S. IVinthrop. 

3. Forensic Disputation, On the compara- 

tive benefits of the Art of Printing and the 
Mariners Compass, by Benjamin Edwards 

and Stephen Reed. 

4. Music. 

5. Poem, To the memory of Byron, 

by R. John Everitt. 

6. Oration, On the intellectual powers 

of man, by Milton Crawford. 

7. Oration, On national prosperity, 

by Henry R. Winthrop. 


8. Music. 

9. Dialogue — SOBISKI. 
Stanislaus, 

Pulaski, 

Sobiski, 

Anhalt, 

10 . Epilogue, 


H. R. IVinthrop. 
R. J. Everitt. 
Charles R. Smith 
J. S. Winthrop. 
Edward Sellon. 


It is the order of an entertainment given by the pupils of Dr. Sherwood’s 
school. The Winthrop’s referred to, viz., John S., who made the Latin ora- 
tion, and Henry R., whose theme was “National Prosperity,” were grand- 
sons of Fitch, son of Nehemiah and Elizabeth (Fitch) Rogers of Norwalk. 
Fitch Rogers’ second daughter, Harriet, (sister of Mrs. Dr. Sherwood) mar- 
ried John Winthrop, Esq. The Winthrop House in Stamford stood on the 
east side of the triangular “green,” a few rods distant from St. John’s 


4 


17 

April 26, 1830, the Rev. Alexander H. Crosby* was invited to 
the rectorship, but declined. 

The Rev. Henry 8. Atwaterf officiated from June 27 to December 
19, 1830, and from the register which he kept it is noticeable that, 
with but one exception all of his marriages — he had several — were 


church, and neighbor to the Brown, and Fitch Rogers, Jr., and Holly Homes. 
The Rogers family pew in the old St. John’s, right prosperous mother to-day 
of several daughters, is still remembered. Dr. Sherwood’s engaging pupil, 
Henry Rogers Winthrop, was Yale valedictorian, class of 1830, and his cousin’ 
Edward, of New Haveu, was valedictorian next year (1831) at Yale. It is an 
interesting fact that the cousins should, each in his respective class, have 
borne away the highest honors of Alma Mater, and it is testimony to their 
intellectual capabilities also because in both instances, the race for the 
distinction was a sharply contested one. The cousins had for competitors 
two thoroughly cultured and earnest classmates, brothers, from South Caro- 
lina. 

Edward Winthrop, (valedictorian of 1831,) was son uf Francis Bayard Win- 
throp, of New Haven His brother, Charles, and himself, were second cousins 
of Mrs. Dr. Sherwood and old members of the Norwalk school. Edward was 
afterward elected rector of St. Paul’s church, Cincinnati, Ohio, and after that 
of St. Paul’s, Norwalk, Ohio, and he being grandson of Moses and Sarah 
(Woolsey) Rogers was gr. gr. grandson of Ralph Isaacs. The Benjamin Ed- 
wards mentioned in “The Scheme,’’ was from Long Island, and of the Yale 
class of 1829, and his discussion of the art of printing and the mariner's com- 
pass was probably his farewell to school, while his disputant, Stephen Reed, 
was a Greek student and belonged to the Reed family of West Norwalk. R. 
John Everitt was a young man who belonged to the institution and was bap- 
tized by Dr. Sherwood while under his care: and Edward Sellon, who pro- 
nounced the parting words, was the son of a clergyman of the English church ; 
there were two brothers, Sellon, who attended Dr. Sherwood’s school. 

The connection of the Norwalk Rogerses and the Massachusetts Winthrops 
was through Nehemiah and Elizabeth (Fitch) Rogers’ son Henry. His (Henry’s) 
son, Dr. John Smith Rogers, married Gov. Thomas L. Winthrop’s daughter, 
Augusta, sister of Robert C. Winthrop. John Smith, after whom Dr. John S. 
Rogers appears to have been named, was one of the king of Great Britain’s 
American treasurers. 

IT In the beginning of Dr. Sherwood’s rectorship St. Paul’s numbered about 
one hundred communicants; and at its close the number was in the neigh- 
borhood of one hundred and sixty-four. Some forty communicants had died 
or removed during Dr. Sherwood’s fourfeen years care. 

The Diocesian Convention of 1828 met in Norwalk, and in his report of that 
year i Which was his last but one), the rector of St. Paul’s mentions that he had 
attended two hundred and fourteen funerals. “Supposing then,” he goes on 
to say, “the whole number of souls in the parish, including men, women, and 
children, to amount to seven hundred, which is thought a large calculation, 
we find that a number nearly equaling one-third of the whole congregation, 
has within the last twelve years been numbered with the dead. And if on 
this computation, which is certainly a reasonable one, we extend our views 
forward, it will be found that within the short space of thirty-six years, there 
will have died in this parish a number fully equal to the whole congregation 
at the commencment of this period.” Dr. Sherwood’s limitation of thirty-six 
years expired, in 1864, but extend the time sixteen years so as to include Dr. 
Mead’s entire rectorship, and over 1,600 have been attended. The report of 
Dr. Sherwood concludes very properly with the words, “Teach us, O Lord, so 
to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.” 


* Studied under the advice of the well-read and universally beloved Dr. 
Samuel Nichols (father of Rev. George Warner Nichols, now residing in St. 
Paul’s parish), of Bedford, N. Y., and while naturally sedate, yet was pre- 
possessing and engaging. “St. Paul’s,” says one who has fresh remembrance 
of him, “would have done well to have secured him.” He became rector of 
St. John’s church, Yonkers, and continued such eleven years. I 
t Ambrose. Todd, D.D., brought Mr. Atwater to Norwalk, and took him at 
once to the new home of the late Stephen Smith, on Newtown avenue, where 
he was cordially welcomed. His first administration of baptism in this par- 
ish was in Judge Smith’s house, on the evening of Whit Sunday, 1830. Mr. 
Atwater spent the latter part of his life in the west. 


18 


solemnized in the church. Previous to his day such public celebra- 
tions had been rare. It is believed that the church of 1786 had 
almost completed two-thirds of its existence before it had witnessed 
such a service. One of the contracting parties in the first marri- 
age known to have been solemnized in that edifice still survives, 
a revered communicant,* to whom children lovingly minister. + 
On Easter Monday, 1831, the parish, through its vote, asked 
from Bishop Brownell a nomination for the rectorship. Action 
was promptly taken, and the fondly-remembered incumbency of 
Jackson Kemper + was soon inaugurated. The spirit, the heart, and 

* Mrs. Edwin Hoyt. 

t The second marriage in the church of 1786 was that of James Stevens, Esq. 
to Fanny Whitlock, April 4th, 1821, and the latest marriages in the same edi- 
fice, and after it was removed t<> the Jarvis lot in order to make room for the 
erection of the new church, were George Hayes Bradley, or New Haves, to 
Theodocia Fitch Daskam, of Nox-walk, October 7th, 1840, and on January 20th, 
1841, George A. Lally to Frances B. St. John (daughter of Charlotte St. John, 
formerly of St. Paul’s, Norwalk, but later of St. Paul’s, New Haven,) and 
Charles Frederick Osborn to Caroline Kellogg, March 23d, 1841. 

t Jackson Kemper was born December 24th, 1789, at Pleasant Valley, near 
Poughkeepsie, N. Y. His parents were transient residentsof that place, their 
home being in New York City, to which their young son was taken for baptism 
by Bishop Moore. He was afterward sent to a school taught by one of the 
Fitch family, of Darien, and subsequently to Cheshire, where his predecessor 
at- St. Paul’s, Dr. Wm. Smith, was principal. He then studied, as did also 
Bishop Benj. T. Onderdonk, and Judge Hoffman, with Dr. Barry: and the 
doctor’s three pupils entered Columbia College together and graduated in 
1809. Mr. Kemper read theology under the direction of the clergy of Trin- 
ity Church. In the spring of 1811 he was ready for deacon’s orders, and as 
Bishop Moore lay stricken with paralysis, and Bishop Hobart was not yet 
consecrated, he was ordained by Bishop White in St. Peter’s Church, Phil- 
adelphia, on March 11th, 1811. He was almost at once called to the united 
parishes of St. Peter and St. James, of which Bishop White had been rec- 
tor. He was admitted to priest’s orders by Bishop White and continued his 
Philadelphia connection until 1831. During a portion of the time he spent 
in Pennsylvania he was in ill-health, and consequently took long journeys, 
usually on horseback. In one of these trips he went as far west as Ohio, 
visiting and officiating in Canfield and Boardmans, and Poland, in that 
diocese. In 1814 he was called to the assistantship of St. Paul’s Church (Dr. 
Kemp’s), Baltimore. He refused it and the parish was oflered to his friend, 
the late Dr. Wyatt, who there continued until the end of his life. In 1816 he 
was married to Miss Jerusha Lyman, a daughter of General William Lyman, 
of Northampton, Mass., a lady of rare intellect and superior character. She 
died, in 1818, and in 1821 he married Miss Ann Relf, of Philadelphia, who was 
the mother of his three children — Elizabeth (Mrs. William Adams), Louis, 
one of the noblest sons of the church, and Samuel, residing in Wisconsin. 
Mrs. Ann Kemper was fifteen years younger than her husband, and was a 
very remarkable and very beautiful woman, and although a resident of 
Norwalk for only two months, was cherished and beloved by our people. It 
was the desire on the part of her husband for a rural parish that secured for 
St. Paul’s this happy rectorship, to an appreciation of which the people at 
once rose. The vestry of the parish went on the evening ot the doctor’s 
arrival in June, 1831, to Old Well, and after the steamer Fairfield was made 
fast to the pier, and the doctor and his family descended the plank, extended 
to them a true welcome. They were at once driven to Hezekiah Jarvis’s 
house and the “Squire” and his wife, and his daughters Lavinia and Sarah 
and Amelia and Mary received them, and (until their goods arrived) 
made them at home. A bright and happy summer followed: the pas- 
tor and his partner both throwing themselves with great zest into country 
parish life. Dr. Kemper spent a great deal of his time with his people. In a 
letter of Mrs. Kemper written at that time is penned that he “had every 
evening a service in some of the outlying hamlets.” It was his custom, after 
the second service in the early afternoon on Sunday, to visit some of the 
parishioners who through age or infirmity had been kept away from church, 


19 


above all tlie saintliness of the rector from 1831 to 1835 are among 
the holy memories of this people. His look was benignant, and 
his manner full of grace, and his nature of sweetness, and his 
religion was the even flow of the peaceful meadow stream. . “The 
Lord is in His Holy Temple” and no man in liis performance of the 
service, beginning thus, seemed more fully to realize that the object 
of worship was everything and he nothing, than did Doctor Kemper. 
His sermons were full of wise words, his private counsels were pre- 
cious, he was an angel of compassion to the afflicted, and his minis- 
trations were a benediction descending from Heaven. He was called 
in 1835 to the missionary bishopric of the northwest, and left a sor- 
rowing flock, committing to their tender keeping the dust of his 
beloved wife. He died in 1870, and rests on the banks of the 
Nashota lakes,* close by the mound raised over the remains of his 
earnest and indefatigable old Sunday school officer’s son, the Rev. 
LeGrand Finney, of this parish, f 

After the resignation, in 1835, of Dr. Kemper, the parish called 


and the setting Lord’s day usually found him at old Mrs. William St. John’s 
and elsewhere, reading to his aged communicants and praying with them. 
In May, 1832, Mrs. Kemper died, and the parsonage and parish were in deep 
affliction. Dr. Kemper remained, rendering faithful service until his elec- 
tion in 1835 to the Episcopate, and Consecration on Sept. 25, that year, in the 
same church (St. Peter’s, Philadelphia), and by the same prelate where and 
by whom he had twenty-four years before been admitted to the diaconate. 


* Bishop Kemper’s monument is thus inscribed : — 

Here 

rests in hope 
The body of 
JACKSON KEMPER, 

Born Dec 24, 1789 
Died May 24, 1870. 

To live is Christ, 

To die is gain. 

The sides of the tomb are thus lettered : — 

First Missionary Bishop of the American 
Church 1835—1859 

First Bishop of the Diocese of Wisconsin 
1854—1870 

tThe Sunday school officer here referred to is James Finney, Esq., who 
lacked but a few months of fifty years’ service as librarian and superintend- 
ent of St. Paul’s school. His son LeGrand, a devoted young clergyman 
of the church, was for some time rector of the parish in Plainfield, New 
Jersey, after which he removed to the West, where he died. A discourse 
commemorative of his former Sunday school pupil, LeGrand Finney, was 
preached by the late Dr. Mead, from the text, “So he giveth his beloved 
sleep.’’ Concerning Mr. Finney at the time of his ordination. Dr. Mead in 
his sermon, July 7th, 1861, remarked : “It has also been a cheering event in 
my ministry here that one of those whom I baptized in infancy, and presented 
for confirmation in his youth, and to whom I gave his first communion, has 
been presented by me to the bishop to be admitted to the first grade in the 
Christian ministry, and that I have the real gratification of seeing him begin 
his public ministry with such indications of talent and zeal, and such tokens 
of devotion to his sacred calling, as to encourage the belief that he will in 
due time take rank among the ablest and most useful ministers of the 
church.” 


to the rectorship the Rev. William Croswell, rector of Christ 
Church, Boston, and son of the Rev. Dr. Harry Croswell, of Trin- 
ity Church, New Haven. He was Bishop-elect Kemper’s nominee 
and was commended by Bishops Brownell and Doane, and the 
action of the parish in without delay extending its invitation to one 
of so much promise was highly complimentary to it. But Mr. 
Croswell declined the call, saying to his father in a letter of Sept. 
19, 1835, that he had never been to Norwalk and was ignorant of 
the strength of its claims to consideration. 

The next choice fell upon the Rev. Mr. Cummins, and a commit- 
tee visited New York City for the purpose of waiting upon him, but 
the errand was fruitless. 

On the 12tli of October,' 1835, a call was extended to the Rev. 
James C. Richmond, of Philadelphia, who shortly afterwards ac- 
cepted and entered upon the work. On July 1st, 1836, the follow- 
ing letter was read in a meeting held that day: 

To the Parishioners of St. Paul 's Church , Norwalk: 

Gentlemen: — With the most heartfelt regret I am under the 
necessity of respectfully requesting your acceptance of my resigna- 
tion of the rectorship of this church. Having received an invita- 
tion which my duty to the church and my family does not leave me 
at liberty to refuse, I trust you will grant this request with a full 
and candid consideration of my case. Since the early dissolution 
of the endearing relation between pastor and flock is unpleasant in 
itself, I beg that an entry be made on your records that this request 
is presented by me at a time when your harmony as a Christian so- 
ciety and your kindness to me as your pastor add unfeigned sorrow 
to the sentiments to which I subscribe such a petition. 

Yours respectfully and affectionately in Christ, 

James C. Richmond. 

The meeting accepted the resignation of Mr. Richmond,* and 


*The rectorship of Rev. James Cook Richmond was brief, but his fervor and 
fidelity are not forgotten by his former parishionex-s. He was born in Provi- 
dence, R. I., and although but 27 years of age, when in Norwalk, it was evi- 
dent that his gifts and powers were extraordinary. He was educated at Har- 
vard, and afterward at Gottingen, and Halle, and ordained deacon in 1832, 
and priest in 1833 by Bishop Griswold, and he died in 1866. The following 
are extracts from a speech delivered in Milwaukee by U. S. Senator Carpenter 
upon the occasion of his death : 

“He was a gi’eat man measured by any standard you please to select. No 
man ever assailed his orthodoxy. The divinity of Jesus he believed to be the 
corner stone of the faith. He reasoned, argued, declaimed with the wax-mest 
zeal against all doubt on this cardinal point. There was nothing that so oc- 
cupied his thoughts as this; and we, who so often heard him, can never for- 
get his zeal and the very great ability with which he always treated his grand 
and lofty theme. He had great contempt for mere rhetoric, and held it alto- 
gether unsuitable to the pulpit. Religious belief and faith must be bottomed 
upon facts, truths: the hearer must not only be induced to yield assent; he 
must be convinced. The first ten minutes of his sermon were occupied with 
short sentences; the foundations of his arguments were slowly and care- 
fully laid, and the structure of his theory arose upon it as regularly, and 


21 


before adjourning voted that Stephen Mott, Benjamin Isaacs, Wil- 
liam J. Street and Stephen Smith be a committee empowered to call 
the Rev. William Cooper Mead, D. D. , * of Philadelphia; which call 


stood as firmly, and was as plainly seen as a marble palace upon its founda- 
tions. The beauties of his sermon were beauties of proportion and adapta- 
tion — not artificial ornaments and flowers of speech. You were not carried 
off in a balloon of rhetoric, or on a cloud of rainbow beauties : but you had 
gone with him step by step, up the mountain side, you knew every foot of 
the ascent, and you could look where he pointed, far above the petty pursuits 
of life, to the pinnacles of faith and duty. How sublimely he celebrated the 
ordinances and sacraments of the church. If you have seen him by the 
sick bed of your dying children, as I have seen him beside mine in the very 
ante-chamber of death, stretching out his arms repeating the solemn ser- 
vice : ‘We receive this child into the congregation of Christ’s flock, and do 
sign her with the sign of the cross;’ if you have clung to him for consolation 
when your wife and children, in the chamber of another dying child, were 
trembling and crying around you, and your own heart strings were breaking 
with grief; if you have gone with him, been led, sustained and supported 
by him to the grave of some dear one gone before you; if you have heard 
from him, ‘I am the resurrection and the life.’ ‘Earth to earth, ashes to 
ashes, dust to dust,’ if you have followed him through such scenes, then 
cherish the memory of them in your hearts; you will never know the like 
again.” 


*Born in Greenwich, Conn, October 26, 1795; studied with Rev. Dr. Barry; 
ordained deacon by Bishop Croes in Christ’s church, New Brunswick, N. J., 
January 6, 1824, and priest in 1825, by Bishop Hobart, of New York. He offici- 
ated in Christ church, Mamaroneck; was rector of Grace church, White 
Plains, 1824-6 and of Christ church, Reading, Penn., for a few months, and 
of Trinity church, Philadelphia, 1826-36, and of St. Paul’s, Norwalk, from 
1836 to 1879. He died suddenly on Thursday, July 17th, 1879, (the anniver- 
sary of the death in 1836 of his former valued friend and counsellor, Rt. Rev. 
William White) at a little after 5 o’clock in the afternoon. At a later hour the 
bell in St. Paul’s tower tolled slowly his age, and as the tones were borne 
solemnly out upon the evening air, announced to the people that their aged 
rector and pastor and friend had departed. A meeting of the wardens and 
vestry was summoned, and suitable action taken. The church was draped 
with mourning and the funeral appointed for Wednesday of the following 
week. The Bishop of the diocese spent the Sunday intervening in the par- 
ish, and spake feelingly and eloquently to the bereaved flock. During the 
morning of Wednesday, July 23d, the remains were seen by the Sunday 
school of St. Paul’s and by many friends and visitors, and the funeral took 
place in the church at two o’clock that afternoon. It was attended by the 
Bishop of the diocese with a large number of the clergy, and by parishioners 
and citizens in general. The committal office was read in the church and a 
few collects at the tomb. 

“ Thou shalt come to thy grave in a full age, like as a shock of corn com- 
et h in its season .” 

Calendar lesson at evening prayer for July ijth. 

Mrs. Dr. Mead, (Miss Maria Harlan, of Philadelphia) was an invalid during 
the latter portion of her life, and confined to the parsonage, and much of 
the time to her room. At a previous period and before her sickness, she was 
active, and especially among those who did not drink freely of the cup of 
life’s comforts, and who keenly appreciated her delicate services of Chris- 
tian sympathy and kindness. She died several years before her husband, 
in April, 1875, and is buried in the Mead family tomb, a few feet south of 
the church portals, but has by no means dropped out of the memory of 
those who knew concerning her goodness and usefulness. Two of Dr. Mead’s 
daughters survive him, Mrs. Samuel Tiffany, of Newark. N. J., and Miss Jane 
Maria Mead, of Norwalk. Another daughter, the late Mrs. B. E. Staats, is 
buried in St. Paul’s yard, and another, Mrs. Theodore Mead, is interred in 
Greenwich. 

The subjoined is an extract from Dr. Mead’s Twenty-Fifth Anniversary 
discourse, delivered in St. Paul’s church on Sunday morning, July 7th, 1861, 
and as a reminder of the solemnity of his composition, and the strong sense 
of his writings, and the sound doctrine which rang out so clearly in his 
preaching, it will not, it is thought, be unacceptable to those to whom his 
memory, in relation to these particulars, is such a treasure. His text was 


22 


was on the 14tli of the same month — a half century ago yesterday — 
accepted. 

Dr. Mead was a strong man; a man of energy and ability, and of 
clear vision and quick perception of that which was feasible and 
practicable. He possessed singular administrative wisdom, and as 


from the words, “For we are unto God a sweet savor of Christ, in them that 
are saved and in them that perish. To the one we are a savor of death unto 
death, and to the other the savor of life unto life.” And he had just been 
dwelling upon what the parish had accomplished since his coming to it in 
1836, when, in bringing the address to a conclusion, he thus remarks : 

“But, brethren, this steady stream of prosperity is not without its sad 
memories and solemn warnings. Within the past 25 years nearly 600 funer- 
als have been attended by your rector, or by those who represented and as- 
sisted him in this parish. Nearly 600 times in the aggregate has ‘Earth to 
earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust.’ been pronounced over the mortal re- 
mains of some of your relatives, friends and acquaintances. ‘Your fathers, 
where are they?’ Of the aged and middle aged who greeted me at my coming 
to this parish, but few now survive. The tomb, the green hillock which 
marks their graves sadly reminds us that they are gone, that the place which 
once knew them, will know them no more; and that soon their fate will be 
ours. Of the four parishioners who, as the committee of this society invited 
me to be your rector, three now sleep with their fathers, and one alone re- 
mains. Amid all this havoc of death, the occupants of your parsonage have 
been singularly preserved. Of the houses which stood around the green and 
near the church and parsonage-lot when I came here, not one but has given 
its trophy to death. I have often stood on my lawn and mused on the 
changes wrought by time, and thought of departed friends and neighbors, and 
been startled when I had numbered them, to find that some seventy, within 
the call of my voice, had been removed by death, and yet those whom the 
parsonage roof tree sheltered remained unscathed. Loudly has this fact 
admonished your rector that, ‘whatsoever his hand findeth to do, for Christ 
and the Church, should be done with his might.’ May the solemn voices of 
the dead excite us, who must soon follow them into the spirit world, to devote 
our short remnant of life to glorify God by doing good in our day and 
generation. 

One more topic, brethren, and I close. Within 25 years, 3,775 sermons 
have been delivered in this place; 2,717 by myself, and the rest by clergymen 
of the church who have assisted me. It is a solemn fact that the religious 
instructions so extensively offered and so variously received have already 
had their effect for good or evil on their hearers. For we may rest assured 
that, whether, under the preaching of the Gospel, men will fear and improve, 
or forbear and harden their hearts, God’s word, proclaimed by his ministers, 
will not return unto Him void; it will accomplish that for which He hath 
sent it; either to secure the salvation of those who improve it, or to justify 
the condemnation of such as disregard it. ‘For we are unto God a sweet 
saviour of Christ in them that are saved and in them that perish : to the one 
we are the saviour of death unto death, and to the other the saviour of life 
unto life.’ It is God’s design, ‘by the foolishness of preaching to save them 
that believe’ and obey. It is His design through the faithfulness of preaching 
to vindicate all his attributes when he shall bring us into judgment, and fix 
the portion of each for eternity. Here the great fact will be shown that every 
one who perishes has been his own destroyer, seeing he has had deliverance 
placed within his reach, and might have grasped it if he would. 

If then, brethren, it be true that you cannot be neutral under the preaching 
of the Gospel, if it be true that every sermon you hear will either benefit or 
injure you, how carefully and earnestly should your minister preach, and 
how thoughtfully and prayerfully should you ‘take heed how ye hear.’ Many 
years have I spoken to attentive ears and generous hearts, to minds alive to 
appreciate the truths of the doctrine uttered, and to approve the forensic 
skill and eloquence with which it may have been presented. But, ah, 
brethren, the great question for each to settle is, has the word preached as 
yet proved to my soul a savor of life unto life, or risen to God against me as a 
savor of death unto death ? 

We must deliver our message however men may receive it. We dare not 
keep it back. We tell you that it is only by repentance and faith and 
obedience that you can hope to escape the wrath to come. ‘ We pray you in 
Christ stead be ye reconciled unto God.’ We set before the thoughtless and 
unconverted the only alternative that can be proposed ; either forsake sin, 


concerned ecclesiastical jurisprudence, was to be trusted with entire 
confidence. He deprecated changes, and was the apostle of the 
bidding of law. His views had weight in the committee room, he 
graced the moderator’s chair, and was a power upon the floor of the 
convention. He was a sage counsellor but an acute debater as well. 
He spake to the point, and was gifted with what in another has been 
commended as the rhetorical quality of knowing when to stop. He 
was for some time secretary of the lower house in the general con- 
vention, and for many years chairman of the committee on canons. 
His services are distinctly worth putting upon record, and the church 
has reason to be proud of them. Uncompromising in his allegiance 
to it, never swerved by policy, but ever acting from conviction, in- 
flexible, intelligent, influential, he won the admiration of his cotem- 
poraries, and will have secured the approbation of history. And as 
to that which he here accomplished, everything speaks of him. 
Not a building, not a wall, not a paling even is standing which 
stood when he came hither. He filled, and straightened, and pav- 
ed and smoothed; he built first the church, ' then the walls, then 
the sheds, then the walks. He built Trinity chapel, South Nor- 
walk, and helped build at least two other churches in this vicinity, 
and last of all he built his tomb. “Dr. Mead,” said a jurist, a 
stranger to him, of an adjoining diocese, “the citizens of my town 


and fly to Christ for pardon, and use every appointed means of grace, to 
secure for yourselves, as you may do, a heavenly inheritance ; or else, he who 
is over you in the Lord, who has so often spoken to you, Avho now again speaks 
to you in weakness, though in earnestness, must, when the throne is set and 
the books are opened, testify against you before Heaven and earth that he has 
warned and instructed you but that you would not improve it: that you knew 
your duty though you did it not. Oh, save me from the dreadful necessity of 
witnessing against you! Improve what yet remains; from this hour make 
the blessed Gospel a savor of life unto life, and not of death unto death. 

And you, beloved, who have been trying to ‘work out your ow n salvation,’ be 
diligent, be faithful, and the rewards of eternity shall be secured. What of 
joy or sorrow may be before you in the future, we know not But this we 
know, that ‘they that Avait upon ihe Lord, shall renew their strength; they 
shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary; and 
they shall walk and not faint.’” 

* The present St. Paul’s is a substantial edifice in all its parts. The tower 
is strengthened by heavy oak timber from the frame of the former church. 
The belfry and spire stand on ten posts, each post being one foot square. 
The tower is fifty feet in height, and the belfry and spire extend one hundred 
feet beyond that, the whole being surmounted by the same weather vane that 
surmounted the spire of the church of 1786. 

Probably there is not an individual in the parish who better understands 
concerning the building, from foundation bed to spire terminal, of St. Paul’s 
Church, than does the venerable Henry Kellogg, ‘‘the church carpenter.” 
He has industriously discharged his duty, and after a long laborday, and bent 
under the weight of years, bears with hope the infirmities and inquietudes of 
age. 

The bell which hung in the steeple of the church of 1786 Avas a New Haven 
bell, bought evidently in November, 1796, at a cost of between 75 and 100 dol-’ 
lars. It now hangs in the belfry of St. Mark’s Church, New Canaan. The fine 
toned bell which to-day hangs in St. Paul’s Church, is from the Meneely 
West Troy foundry, of 2,030 pounds weight, and key F natural. It succeeded 
some tAVO or three steel bells, and was put in place in January, 1869. 


24 


owe to you a monument. The spirit which you roused, and the 
start that you gave us, deserve recognition.” “The monument is 
built,” was the ready reply, “built notwithstanding opposition.” 
And down to his death, he was wont to tell of Grace Church, White 
Plains,* * * § of which parish he was the founder, as the memorial of 
his earliest ministerial work; while this ecclesiastical establishment, 
of the convenience and comfort and beauty of which he w r as guard- 
ian genius, is his later memorial. Other testimonials to his long 
ministry, eternity will present. He labored unweariedly ; he faith- 
fully proclaimed one topic — it was the text of the last sermon 
preached in the church of 1786; it was the theme of his life long 
sermon — “We preach Christ crucified. ”+ 

We close our record of the rectorships of the century with his 
mention, blessing Almighty God that the mantle has fallen upon 
onej who has so zealously taken up the work and so felicitously 
begun what we devoutly pray may prove another century of com- 
plete prosperity. 


RECTOR AND PARISH ASSISTANTS. 


Parish clerk, or reader of responses, William Cornwall. § Clerical 
assistants, the Rev. William Atwill, the Rev. Thomas E. PattisonJ 
(nephew of the late Dr. Mead, and to whose discreet and unremit- 
ting efforts much of the success of the rudimentary work done 
twenty-five years ago in the parish at South Norwalk, is due,) the 
Rev. William H. Williams, vicar of Padgate, England; the Rev. 
Curtis T. Woodruff, afterward rector of Trinity Church, South 
Norwalk; the Rev. Frederick Thompson, IT the Rev. Ralph B. 


* Under the rectorship to day of the Rev. Frederick B. VanKleeck, a son of 
one Dr. of Mead’s old friends, the late Robert B. VanKleeck, D. D. 

tThe topic of the first sermon preached, in September, 1841, in the present 
edifice was “Reconciliation through the Redeemer of Mankind.” 

t The Rev. Howard Saxstone Clapp, born in 1851 in the city of Hartford ; Yale 
graduate, class of 1872; ordained to the diaconate May 26, 1875, and to the 
priesthood. June 1, 1876. First charge, Trinity Church, Wethersfield, Conn., 
which he held until called in 1883 to St. Paul’s, Norwalk, assuming its rector- 
ship on Trinity Sunday, May 20, 1883. 

§ Chorister from Mr. Whitlock’s to Dr. Kemper’s day, a period of nearly a 
quarter century, a position which in later years was faithfully filled by his 
son, Thomas. 

II He is now in Syracuse, diocese of central New York. His brother, the Rev, 
Eugene Pattison, was wont to visit his uncle, Dr. Mead, and married a daugh- 
ter of the late Jonathan Camp, warden of St. Paul’s. After twenty-six years’ 
earnest labor in the ministry, he died, in 1831, in Bethel, Connecticut, and is 
buried in Norwalk, of which town his widow and most of his children are now 
residents. 

y From the diocese of Albany, but ordained in Norwalk, by Bishop Williams, 
at the request of Bishop Doane. 




25 


Hoyt,* tlie Rev. Frederick R. Sandford, t the Rev. J. B. Jennings, J 
and Rev. C. M. Selleck.§ 


The story of the laymen of the past is one which, like that of the 
clergy, deserves not only mentioning but treasuring. The picture 
of our ancestors of a century ago is a reproduction of a picture 
twenty -two hundred years older, when the walls of Jerusalem were 
in heaps of rubbish and all set to work, and every one lent a hand, 
and the cry went resolutely up : “Come and let us build.” Their 
homes were in ruins, and their holy temple lay in the dust, but they 
proposed to repair the desolation, and all joined in the work and 
each applied himself to the part within reach. It was too soon to 
decide upon a final plan ; the smoke had hardly cleared away from 
the burnt district ; the prospect politically was gloomy ; the blasts 
of war were heard in the land ; but they could not remain without 
their church, and decided to put up a building 24x36 for temporary 
occupancy, some among them offering money, some material, some 
both, to help in its construction. Goold Hoyt was the first sub- 
scriber ; then Esaias Bouton, and Samuel Belden, and Jonathan 
Camp, and Nathan Jarvis, and Ebenezer Church, and Thomas 
Belden, and Hezekiali Osborn, and John and Samuel Cannon, and 
Matthew Reed, and Isaac Isaacs, and a number besides these. 
Others of the parish contributed parts of the frame and covering 
of the building, girders, posts, rafters, studding and shingles: 
and still others lent of their skill in cutting, and strength in work- 
ing, and time in carting. There were some special offerings : David 
Lambert gave the communion table, as Stephen St. John and 
Ebenezer Church and Thomas Fayerweather did the chancel and 
the pulpit in the former church ; and Thomas Belden the brass 
hinges for the desk ; and Jacob Jennings the hinges for the pulpit ; 
and Eliakim Warren and David Nash their cash donations, in addi- 
tion to their subscriptions for the church of 1786 ; while Captain 

*Born in 1844 In New York city, and educated at Trinity School. He pursued 
his theological studies under the direction of his father, the well known Ralph 
Hoyt of former years. After his ordination he took charge of the parish at 
Tenefly, N. J.. and then of Holy Trinity parish, Jersey City. He spent not 
quite one year in Norwalk; and died in Illinois, July 19, 1886. 

tYale graduate; Studied divinity at Berkeley; ordained to the Diaeonate in 
1883. He married a daughter of Mrs. Henry Bailey, of Norwalk, and is now 
rector of the parish at Warehouse Point, Conn. 

tNashota graduate. 

§Upon the decease, in 1879, of the Rev. William Cooper Mead, D. D. LL. D., 
the writer, who had been Hr. Mead’s personal assistant since March, 1865, took 
temporary care of the parish, and was elected rector in Feb., 1881, in which 
office he served until his resignation at Easter, 1883. 


2c; 


Stephen Betts,* the Nehemiah of the day, who resisted Tryon’sf 
2,000 men when they landed at Compo, and helj^ed General Samuel 
H. Parsons, of Lyme, Connecticut, drive the small army to their 
boats after they had fired Norwalk,]; and yet diligently read out of 


*Capt. Stephen Betts’s military record is worthy of preservation in our 
national historical cabinet. He was hardly out of his teens before he was 
found in the vicinity of Lexington and its battle-ground. He was one of those 
who helped expend, at Bunker Hill, the twenty-seven half-barrels of pow- 
der, the stock of munition in that line, and at that time of the Continental 
Army; and he did not leave Massachusetts until the British embarked under 
Howe, and made their adieu to Boston. From thence he went to New Jersey, 
and was present in the town of Trenton when, on the day after Christmas, 
1776, nearly a thousand of the enemy “ threw down their arms and begged for 
mercy.” Six days after, on the first morning of the new year, he entered 
Princeton and helped achieve the victory that day, and there received the 
title of “ Captain.” In 1778 he fought at Monmouth, but the dawn of July 11, 
1779, found him at home. The first Norwalk victim fell, it is related, near 
the hill north-east of the Hammersley place, over which one of St. Paul’s 
vestrymen had just passed on an errand of mercy, only, however, to be seized 
on the next hill beyond and carried to one of King George’s boats anchored 
off Fitch’s Point. Capt. Betts was wide awake, but (Gen. Parsons’ command 
did not arrive until later in the morning) Ti-yon overpowered him, and in the 
Secretary of State’s office, Hartford, is filed an affidavit made before Thad- 
deus Betts to this effect: ‘‘Capt. Stephen Betts in ye Continental service, 
personally appeared and made solemn oath, that on ye 11th inst., while ye 
enemy invaded Norwalk, he, with about fifty Continental troops and some 
militia, engaged a superior number of the enemy, which obliged them to 
give way to an unequal force. — Fairfield County, Norwalk, July 26, ryjQ.” 

The captain was at Yorktown in September and October, 1781, where it was 
permitted him to witness, on the afternoon of the 19th of the latter month, 
the surrender to Gen. Washington of seventy-two hundred and forty-seven 
of the enemy’s men, and the close of the revolutionary war. — See Huntington 
/or confirmation ofi portion of foregoing. 

After life’s warfare this old soldier of the State and the Church sleeps be- 
side his kindred, at the foot of one of New Canaan’s commanding ridges, 
under a mound, at the head of which is planted a plain marble stone with 
this simple lettering : 

In 

Memory of 
STEPHEN BETTS 
who died 
Nov. 28, 1832, 

Aged 76 years. 

On the one hundredth anniversary of the burning of Norwalk, his tomb was 
decorated with the national colors and garlanded with flowers. His wife 
(Miss Ruth Church) survived him several years, living in New Canaan, where 
she is now buried. He had one sister, Miss Ann Betts. 

t General William Tryon, of the British Army. He was a terror to the Con- 
necticut Indians, and their designation of him was, The Big Wolf. It is said, 
however, that, notwithstanding his daring, the general lived under the con- 
stant dread of death, to which fact one historian seems to attribute the escape 
of Stamford from conflagration. This possibly is mere fancy: but after the 
arrival of Gen. Parsons at the coast on the morning of the burning of Nor- 
walk, Tryon evidently hastened his departure, by the ‘‘Camilla” and ‘‘Scor- 
pion,” to Long Island. 

{Governor Trumbull, who was one of General Washington’s bosom friends, 
was actively interested for the Norwalk people. Three days previous to the 
burning, he, by special express, had dispatched orders to Gen. Wolcott, then 
in the north-western part of the state, to hasten to the shore; and while the 
town was in flames directions were being issued, to the commandant of New 
London “to go forward to Norwalk.” It was too late; but General Parsons 
had been sent hither from the Hudson Highlands by Washington himself. 
There was some delay in the march, and when the advancing Parsons’ sky- 
blue standard (each regiment had a standard of a particular color : Wooster’s, 
yellow: Putnam’s, scarlet; Parsons’, azure) was discerned, as it was borne 
over our western or north-western hills, the work of Norwalk’s destruction 
had already begun. Gen. Wolcott had arrived, and the forces of both these 


27 


his commentary* * * * § to liis family, and was lay assistant in the little 
church which stood in the street a few furlongs northwest of the 
present St. Mark’s, New Canaan, sent his portion also. And these 
same men, as soon as the plans for the new and permanent church 
could be matured, came at once to the front. The subscription roll 
for the edifice which this day recalls, amounted to the commendable 
sum of £1,095 11s 3d, pledged for building and for pews. John 
Cannon, and Thomas Belden together, subscribed £100 and 
over ; Goold Hoyt, Ebenezer Church and Jonathan Camp, over 
£100 ; Isaac Isaacs, John Belden, Isaac Camp, David Nash, Elia- 
kim Warren, Daniel Nash, Samuel White, Stephen Betts, Richard 
Camp, Matthew Reed, Nehemiali Hanford, over £200. Reuben 
Mott, Benjamin Marvin, Esaias Bouton, Nathan Jarvis, Peter 
White, Mrs. Ogilvie, Mr. Phillips,! Lemuel Brooks, + Paul Taylor, 
Nathaniel Street, John Cannon, Jr., the Messrs. Rogers, Hezekiah 
Jarvis, Hezekiah Belden, Samuel Belden, Jacob Jennings, Benja- 
min Isaacs, Stephen Kellogg and David Lambert, over £300; and 
among the others, Stephen Marvin, § (whose laudable ambition 
led him to fell and hew and draw the first stick of timber for 
the first consecrated church, drawn in all probability from Mr. 
Marvin’s splendid timber patch, known in earlier times as Indian 
Field Hill, || and on which tract a considerable portion of the timber 
in the parsonage to-day grew,) grandfather of Stephen and Merwin 


officers were joined at “the rocks.” Fire was opened upon the British who 
were massing near Grumman’s Hill. The enemy had landed (some of them, 
seemingly, as early as the evening before,) in two divisions: A portion of 
them, under Tryon, at Fitch’s Point, on the east side of the river, and the 
remainder, under General Garth, at “Old Well,” on the west side of the river. 
The two wings came together, somewhat after nine o’clock, a. m., at Grum- 
man’s Hill, and Tryon at once dispatched a company to resist the Continen- 
tals and militia. The hostile forces met in France street: shots were ex- 
changed, and although, according to Captain Stephen Betts’ statement, Tryon 
was master of the field, yet a retreat was ordered, and by noon the invaders 
were on their way to Fitch’s Point, and a little later to Long Island. It is a 
significant fact that no sooner had Tryon re-crossed the Sound than he was 
recalled by Sir Henry Clinton, to New York, where he apologized for his con- 
duct at Norwalk, etc. 

N. B. — General Parsons’ non-arrival until the morning of the conflagration 
is disputed. It is claimed that he was here a day or two before the burning. 


* The old Betts commentary is kept as companion-piece to the old Tryon 
chair. 

t A descendant, it is probable, of Hon. Frederick Phillips, second lord of the 
manor of Phillipsborough, and founder of St. John’s Church, Yonkers, New 
York, whose grandson, Frederick, was, nearly one hundred years since, pro- 
prietor of the Philipstown estate (opposite West Point), Putnam county. New 
York. This second Fredericks’ daughter-in-law married, after the decease of 
her first husband, an Ogilvie. Mrs. Ogilvie gave somewhat over one hundred 
dollars, and Mr. Phillips about seventy-five dollars for the church of 1786. 

$ Captain Lemuel Brooks lived at tue village, so-called, somewhat below South 
Norwalk. He married a Raymond. His sifter married Phineas Miller, M. D., 
a physician in early days in the place. A daughter of Dr. Miller, Miss Mary 
Ann Miller, of New Haven, crowned with years, still survives. 

§ Buried in the rear of St. Paul’s church. 

II A little north of the line of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Rail- 
road, and near the boundary line between Norwalk and Westport. 


28 


Raymond, dead, and Josiahand Marvin, living, gave and subscribed 
freely; and so did John Platt, one of the carpenters of the new 
church, who lived near Mr. Marvin’s, on the borders of Saugatuck, 
and Aaron Keeler,* father-in-law of the late Carmi Lockwood, and 
who came from the foot of Belden’s Hill to church, brought his 
pounds to the treasury. “God, the best and greatest, ” as is inscribed 


*The Rev. James Keeler, wlio was the son of Aaron Keeler, was horn in 
Norwalk, April 29, 1787. He was ordained deacon in 1818, and taught, in 1821, 
the Episcopal Academy in this town. He removed, in 1823, to Wallingford, 
Connecticut, was rector, in 1828. of St Andrew’s Church, Meriden, and went, 
in 1835, to Harpeisville, Broome County. New York. He died in Janesville, 
Iowa, in June, 1863. lie was a man of ability, and his children also appear 
to have been possessed of fine qualities of mind. A volume of poems by his 
daughter, Amelia, was published, in I860. We borrow, from her “Footprints,’ 
one poem entitled: “Reminisences of Childhood,” and her allusion to the 
stream and rocks and woods and shades, will immediately recall to those who 
are familiar with it, the Wiunipauk birth spot: 

Flow back, flow back, ye rolling years, 

Take back your sorrows, cares, and fears, 

And let my spirit rove as free 
As once in Childhood’s revelry. 

I come, I come my native stream, 

My native cot, a welcome theme. 

Here once I roved in childish glee, 

As now my spirit fancy free. 

Yon rugged rocks I fancied high; 

Y"on woods they seemed to reach the sky; 

Yon shades they seem so dark and drear, 

They filled my infant mind with fear. 

Here is the rock on which we played ; 

Here are the tiny loaves we made; 

Here are my playmates, one and all, 

And echo answers to our call. 

Oh, vain delusion! false as fair! 

E’en now my spirit whispers where? 

Where is the mother, whose kind hand 
So often blessed our little band? 

Where are my sisters? Do I dream? 

Or have they hid beside the stream? 

E’en happy childhood hath no joy 
Unmingled with some slight alloy. 

Sisters, come back ! They answer not : 

And vanished is my native cot; 

Life, with its cares, appears in view : 

My early friends, adieu! adieu! 

Miss Keeler died, in 1856, and her last words were “My Saviour, Meet Me.” 
A brother addressed to the bereaved family several stanzas which closed as 
follows : 

Say not “her voice and harp are mute,” 

I seem to hear their accents rise, 

In unison with angel’s lute, 

Chanting the chorals of the skies. 

“My Saviour, meet me,” — thus she prayed, 

And Heaven’s portals opened wide, 

Her soul on Jesus’ breast was stayed, 

And borne across the chilling tide. 

And when our pilgrimage is o’er, 

And earthly cares and trials cease. 

She’ll meet us on that heavenly shore, 

And welcome us to perfect peace. 

Sarah, the oldest child of Rev. James Keeler, was a devoted daughter of the 
church, and while in Connecticut was intimate in the family of Bishop Brow- 
nell. She was, in reality, the founder, in years gone by, of the mission in West 
Norwalk. 






•29 

on this chancel-pane memorial to two of these old parishioners, “to 
Him be highest praise;” but honor also, to the fathers of a century 
ago. They are no more, and their places know them no longer, still 
they served the church long and they served it well. They were 
charged with the difficult task of maintaining their faith against 
the attacks of prejudice, and at a period when peril was imminent; 
but they stood their ground, believing in the omnipotence of truth, 
and that time would right all wrongs Brave people; great princi- 
ples make a great and brave people. Brave fathers, next to God 
ye have claim to-day to the foremost rank in our affections. We 
speak for you, you of the silent throng. Your very graves around 
us appeal strongly to our veneration.* Departed sires, ye have a 
place in the recesses of our hearts, and your deeds are worthy of 
imitation. 

The first mention in our parish records is of one of the founders 
of a family of distinguished name in the American church. On 
May lltli, 1741, William Jarvis was chosen society’s clerk, and was 
the same month sworn to the faithful discharge of his said office, 
“before Captain Samuel Hanford, one of George II. justices of the 
peace.” The Jarvises Avere true and loyal to St. Paul’s. Tlieir 
antecedents and their genuine attitude with reference to the church 
justify the remark. There were several of them, and the registry 
of their doings fills a deep page in our parish history. William, 
the first, was for seventeen years clerk, which is sufficient evidence 
of his appreciation by his cotemporaries. To Samuel, his brother, 
as is supposed, was committed an important trust. Nathan was the 
first recorded treasurer of the parish. Noah, of generous emotions 
and patriotic principles, and across whose life even in age sparkled 
the silver ripple of happy humor, was choir-master at the age of 
twenty-four; and Hezekiali was in office over fifty years. This 
youngest brother of Bishop J arvis, was possessed of qualities which 
will live and be admired as long as virtue is cultivated and purity 

*It used to be said that the dust of no clergyman Is mingled with the dead 
in St. Paul’s yard, and, until 1879, this was true Still the old acre had for 
many years urned the ashes of the father of one bishop, and the wife of an- 
other, and the nephew of another, while in the north-east corner lie the re- 
mains of the parents of one in the second grade of the ministry, and in the 
south-east corner those of still another, and in other portions the wife and 
daughter of one, and the wife of another clergyman repose. The remains of 
the Rev. Dr. Mead lie in front of the present church. He built a tomb adjoin- 
ing to, and as a part of, one built by his much prized friend, one of the lofty- 
spirited men of the past, James Moody Hoyt, deceased and a few feet from 
him is interred the body of another, who also was of a superior worth, his 
dear and valued friend, Rev. John Purves. Near the north gate of the church- 
yard is buried the mother of one of this country’s bible historians, and near 
the south gate is the “Stranger’s grave,” a grave in which rests one of good 
birth, and although of troubled term of days while here, yet a faithful char- 
acter; north of the chancel is a stone, the marking upon which suggests two 
families of ancient name in this country. 


prized. His loftiness of walk assigned to him a sort of pre-eminence, 
while his ceaseless regard for the weal of the parish, is a claim upon 
its never-ceasing gratitude; and the fifteen consecutive years’ ves- 
tryship of his son Samuel certifies to his zeal in the work of the 
church. These were men of Christian dignity and integrity of 
character, and their fame is an enviable one.* 

Another name upon our records is that of the successor in office 
of Mr. Jarvis, John Cannon, Jr. His father, John Cannon, Sr.,f 
known at that day as Commodore Cannon, was a prominent parish- 
ioner of Dr. Learning. He did a large business with the West 
Indies, and his means and influence were employed in our aid. He 
lived on the grounds now occupied by Col. F. St. John Lockwood, 
and the old Cannon well is still, or was until recently, shown. His 
name is at the head of the subscription for the church the anniver- 
sary of the consecration of which we are this day observing; and 
liis own subscription, and that of his neighbor, Thomas Belden, 
which were of equal amounts, were the largest. His son, the clerk, 
was, in 1 786, elected vestryman also, which position he, with three 


* The family of Gervias, Jarveis, or, as anglicised, Jarvis, is evidently of con- 
tinental origin, and of highly respectable antiquity. It is traced back to 
about the time of William the Conqueror, and has been honorably prominent 
in the history of different powers. Those of the name in this country, and 
there are many such, seem to be of English extraction. Their fathers may or 
may not have been among the Hon. James G. Blaine’s estimated 21, 000 emi- 
grants, from Old to New England, during the second and third and fourth 
decades of the Seventeenth Century, but they were found in this land as early 
as 1623, and again in 1630. The name does not appear in Norwalk until about 
a hundred years later, and it appears upon the court records, at Hartford, 
about the time that it is found in the town records here. As far as the parish 
registration is concerned, William Jarvis, son, it is thought, of William, Sr., 
of Huntington, L. I., and hence, uncle of Bishop Jarvis, has the first mention. 
One hundred and forty-eight years ago, forty-two churchmen — ALL the male 
members (over sixteen years of age), of the Church of England, in this town, 
united with their brethren in other portions of Connecticut, in a petition to 
the general assembly, and among the forty-two are found three of the Jarvis 
patronymic, Samuel, (father of the bishop) who is buried in St. Paul’s yard; 
and his son, Samuel, who is buried in Trinity Church yard. New York; and 
his brother (?) William, born, in 1696, and first parish clerk. From these have 
descended the following living communicants of St. Paul’s. 


Mrs. Elizabeth McLean, 
Miss Emily Pinckney, 
Miss Mary Jarvis, 
Charles F. Osborn, 


Clarence F. Osborn, 
Josiah Kellogg, 
William M. Kellogg, 
G. Willis White. 


The names of the forty-two original members of the Church of England, in 
Norwalk, (1738) will be found in the appendix. 

t Called “Commodore,” was grand-son of the John Cannon, who was a mer- 
chant in New York aoout two centuries ago, and who, in September, lfc97, 
married Maria, daughter of Peter LeGrand, another old merchant, who lived 
in Whitehall street, near the then famous and fashionable Battery Park, and 
close by Bowling Green, where the leaden statue of George III was afterward 
erected. (This statue was thrown down, in 1770, by a mob, cut into fragments, 
and of these a large portion was shipped, by sloop, to Norwalk, where they 
still remain.) The Commodore’s father was Peter Cannon, and his mother 
was a Schermerhorn. At the age of twenty-five he married Esther Perry, of 
Fairfield, aunt to the father of Dr. Samuel Perry, who died, in 1817. His own 
residence stood just south of Grumman’s Hill, and his son Samuel’s at the 
top of Mill Hill. His son James built the house which his (James’s) grand- 
daughter, Mrs. Jonathan Camp, now occupies, and his son John, (John, Jr., 


31 


others, held at the ceremonies that year. * John, Jr. , was the brother 
of Samuel Cannon, who was a leading member of this parish, and 
vestrymen from 1809 to 1817, and afterward warden, and who died 
suddenly in his stately residence,! the same which to-day so hand- 
somely crowns Mill Hill. J 

Hezekiali Belden was John Cannon, Jr.’s successor; and the 
Belden family has been one of the foremost families of St. Paul’s. 
The first of the name to appear upon the register is Samuel. He 
lived in Wilton, but was in 1742 chosen to solicit donations of mate- 
rials for the church of 1743. He is the earliest named moderator 
upon the records. His brother John has second mention. John 
and Samuel Belden, and Jonathan Camp, and Capt. Joseph 
Ketchum were the society’s committee for carrying on, from com- 
mencement to completion, the church which was burned in 1 779. 
Of the two other brothers, Hezekiali was clerk for eight years, and 
Thomas a very pillar of the parish. The meeting at which it was 
proposed to build anew, after the disaster in 1779, and which voted 
to call the Rev. Dr. Dibble, was held at his house, which, through 
the instrumentality of his housekeeper, § was one of the number 
saved from burning, and which stood upon the corner which was 
for so many years the home of one of Norwalk’s most respected and 


the temporary parish clerk,) built where Mr. Charles C. Betts resides. There 
were three other houses of this or like architecture in the vicinity. The St. 
John, afterwards Sherry House, and the Dr. Knight House in the upper part 
of Knight street, and the Jonathan Fitch House, Down Town; at the raising 
of one of these, the John Cannon, Jr., House, a serious accident befell. 

Commodore Cannon died on Thursday, February 17, 1796, aged seventy-one, 
and is buried in the Cannon vault, in St. Paul’s yard. He was great-grand- 
father to several of the communicants, in 1886, of St. Paul’s church, Norwalk, 
and St. Paul’s, Troy, and to the present LeGrand Bouton Cannon, (a pupil 
formerly of Dr. Sherwood,) of New York. The silver tea service which belonged 
to him, and which was secreted in the chimney of his house, on East avenue, 
during its burning, in 1779, has been preserved in part, and pieces of it are 
held by different descendants; the tea-pourer being the property of Mr. Le 
Grand Cannon Betts, and the cream pitcher of his cousin, the daughter of Mr. 
Ch aides Ogilvie Cannon Botts, and a large bowl of Mr. James LeGrand Can- 
non, of Westport. 

The Perry family, into which Commodore Cannon married, lived near the 
“Fairfield Green,” just east of the present Probate Building. The Perrys and 
Buckleys and Jenningses, old Fairfield and Southport families, were very inti- 
mate, if not closely related, one hundred and thirty or so years ago. 


^Another grandson of the original John Cannon, LeGrand, born in 1733 and 
buried, in Stratford, in 1789, was the great-grand-parent of Miss Harriet Starr 
Cannon, at the present time Mother Superior of the Sisterhood of St. Mary, 
New York. Miss Harriet S. Cannon has been, until recently, the custodian of 
the Cannon bible. 

tHis mother, Mrs. “Commodore” (Esther Perry,) Cannon, died in the same 
house and in the same room also, that her son, Samuel, died in. 

tCol. Buckingham Lockwood, in 1823-4, purchased this residence of the heirs 
of Samuel Cannon. 

§Miss Azubia Hitchcock. 


82 


notable residents, His Excellency, Clark Bissell, formerly governor 
of Connecticut.* 

Thomas Belden was warden for a period of at least twenty -five 
years, and until liis death in 1806. The next of the family whose 
names are upon the journal are Isaac and Henry, the sons of John. 
Isaac, the father-in-law of the Rev. Mr. Somers,! and Lewis O. 
Wilson, Esq,, filled office, and Henry was vestryman for nineteen 
years, and a lay delegate at different times to the diocesan conven- 
tion, and one of the committee appointed, in 1806, to contract for 
and superintend the building of the new parsonage, and, in 1807, to 
appear before the General Assembly of the state to petition for 
redress from the Connecticut Turnpike Company for encroachment 
upon church territory. 

The Belden witness would be incomplete without tribute to some 
of the descendents of the family. John Belden’s oldest child’s 
name is to be most regardfully pronounced. Mary Esther Belden, 
afterward Mrs. William St. John, was one of the best of Norwalk 
women, and her attachment to this parish has probably never been 
exceeded. She lived, from her marriage, in 1777, until her peaceful 
death, in 1850, at the age of ninety-seven, under the graceful elms 
which her husband had planted, and which to-day form the arching 
frontage of what is known as the Morgan property ; and her chil- 
dren (William, Stephen Buckingham, Mrs. Bush, and Hooker), 
were well-known citizens ; while the places of her daughter-in-law, 
Mrs. William St. John, Jr., and of Mrs. William St.. John Jr.’s 
three daughters, Mrs. Munson Hoyt, Mrs. Charles Sherry, and 
Mrs. Francis Skiddy,| of New York, the first person in this place 
baptised by the revered Kemper, it will be difficult if not impossible 
ever to fill. These sisters, and their mother and grandmother, were 

*A site which may fairly he pronounced Academic. Upon these grounds 
and under the direction of successive rectors of St. Paul’s Church, a number 
of our older students have, since Thomas Belden’s day, read the compositions 
of the best masters of the literature of Greece and Rome. 

tThe Rev. Mr. Somers officiated in St. Mark’s parish, New Canaan, for sev- 
eral months during 1827-8. 

JAt the re-opening of the Church, October 26, 1867, (Rev. Dr. Mead’s seventy- 
third birthday,) after the chancel and other alterations had been made, the 
silver alms basin, now in use, was presented to the church by Mrs. Sarah L. 
Skiddy. It may be added that the Gothic Eagle lectern, which, on the first 
anniversary of the decease of Dr. Mead, July 17, 1880, was dedicated to his 
memory and placed in front of the chancel, was a contribution, in the depart- 
ment ecclesiastical, to the World’s Exposition, held in Philadelphia, in 1876, 
in honor of the completion of the first century of the United States; and also 
that the font of white marble, which stands to the right of the lectern, was 
presented to the parish on the second anniversary of the decease of Dr. 
Mead, by Miss Jane Maria Mead, in memory of her father and mother; while 
the walnut pulpit, on the east side of the chancel, is a memorial to Theodore 
E. Smith, vestryman, who lived and died in the apostolic faith which he loved. 


of lovely character in life, and left very beautiful memories behind 
them at death. 

To Henry Belden’s two daughters, the estimable Margaret and 
Amelia, the St. Paul’s of to-day is debtor. The keynote of their 
lives sounded clearly out at the close, and their marked devotion 
and beneficence are a hallowed “In Memoriam. ”* * 

Another early name is that of Nash. Nathan Nash was one of the 
first wardens of the parish. Micajah Nash was the grandfather of 
Dennis and of the Daniel Nash nearest our own day, and himself, 


The brass chancel rail, of high excellence, which, during the first year of the 
incumbency of the present rector, was made to take the place of the rail built 
in 1841, and re-laid, in 1867, was the donation of Mr. Charles E. St. John, in 
memory of his wife, Mrs. Susan (Sherry) St. John, daughter of Charles and 
Susan (St. John) Sherry, deceased. 

Besides these, theie is a Memorial Scholarship Fund, which now amounts 
to several hundred dollars, and which is named for a communicant of the 
parish, and beloved teacher in the Sunday school, whose life is not measured 
so much by the number of years he lived, as by “the good work, well done,” 
which he fulfilled ; the late Alfred Jackson. 

* Belding, (now Belden) / s t\v\ ancient New England name. The original 
Norwalk Beldens were John and Samuel, sons of John, of Wethersfield. The 
date of their arrival in this place is uncertain, but they were here in 1673. 
John fought in the Indian War, was made sergeant, and, later, lieutenant, 
and was a “merchant,” of Norwalk, in 1710. He mariied Kuth, daughter of 
Samuel Hayes, and sister of the Isaac Hayes, who married Elizabeth Sher- 
wood, of Fairfield. 

Neither John nor Samuel Belden seems to have had house lots assigned to 
them. When the first home lots were laid out they were not upon the spot. 
John died about 1712-13, leaving two sons, John, Jr. and Samuel, 2d., and a 
widow who afterwards married John Copp, the town clerk. Samuel, 1st., had 
landed possessions in different localities, but the inference is that he was 
unmarried. He left his house, lot, orchard, etc., to his “kinsman and 
nephew,” Samuel “son of his deceased brother, John,” and in the event of 
Samuel’s death before reaching “twenty and one” years of age, everything 
was to go to his other nephew, John. 

Samuel, 2d., was the future chairman of the first meeting, of which we have 
record, held in the parish; and his brother, John, who, in 1728, married a 
daughter of Captain John Hill, of Rhode Island, was the father of THOMAS 
Beldf.n, who was born, in 1731, and was a bachelor, and justice of the peace, 
and church warden, and representative for twelve years in the General 
Assembly; and of Hezekiah, also a bachelor, and parish clerk from 1781 to 
1788 ; and of Samuel, who was born in Norwalk, but lived in Wilton, and there 
aided the church, and married the sister of David Lambert, Jr., (the children 
of whom were Hezekiah, William, Samuel, and Thomas) and of John, who, 
married Rebecca, daughter of John Bartlett, and whose children were John, 
Jr., who was unmarried, and Mary Esther, who married William St. John, 
Sr., and Isaac, who married Esther Reed and Amos, who married an Isaacs 
and who removed to Putnam County, New York, and Sarah, who married 
Samuel Cannon, and Henry, who married a sister of Goold Hoyt. 

Mrs. Mary Esther (Belden) St. John’s children are referred to in the address, 
and also the children of Isaac Belden. Amos Belden had eleven children ; 
(The last one living, Sarah, (Mrs. William Mitchell, now resides, at ninety 
years of age, in Texas, )and Henry Belden had one son, John, (brother to Mar- 
garet and Amelia), who died young. 

Thomas Belden, warden, built the Belden vault, in the church yard. 

The Norwalk Hayeses were the ancestors of John Lewis, of Washington, D. 
C., who was a successful Wall street operator, an author and one of the 
founders of the New York City Free Academy. In 1840 he gave ten thousand 
dollars to the schools of the town, in Westchester County, which bears his 
name, and was preparing to build a new St. Paul’s church, Lewisboro, New 
York, when he was removed by death, on Sunday afternoon, October 1, 1871. 

t Barber writes that the first English child, born in New England, bore the 
name of White. The first English child born in Norwalk, bore, it is stated, the 
name of Nash. Edward Nash settled in Norwalk two years after its purchase. 


34 


and son, and grandsons, have been connected with the vestry, and on 
Easter Monday last his great-great-grandson was made a member 
of the same body. He was chosen, in 1754, to “time the psalm and 
give the pitch,” and the old instrument which he used in this choir 
one hundred and thirty years ago is in existence to-day. He lies a 
few feet from this chancel. His grandson, Daniel, who died in 
1865, belonged to St. Paul’s until the formation, in 1833, in West- 
port, of Christ Church parish, so named by Dr. Kemper, and it 
appears from a roll, kept by Dr. Kemper, that of his thirty-four 
Westport communicants, nearly half the number bore the name of 
Nash. The story of the lives of Micajali, of 1754, and of Daniel, of 
1792, and Daniel, Jr., of 1821, and Dennis, for sixteen years vestry- 
man, is the story of stability and worth — of patience and persever- 
ance combined with unimpeachable honesty. Mention may here 
be made of the grateful circumstance that, since the days of the 
burning, three direct descendants of the vestrymen of St. Paul’s 
have themselves built as many temples to the honor of God. We 
refer to the Church of the Good Shepherd, Hartford,* and the 
Church of the Holy Cross, Troy, New York,f and the new Christ 
Church, Westport. J While those who have gone from us — five 
daughters — have each of them a parish church, two in Westport, 
one in New Canaan, one in Wilton, and one in South Norwalk. 
And all of them are here represented to-day through their earnest- 
spirited rectors and pastors. § We attach no importance to the 
legend as to King George’s soldiers and his torch on our church step, 
but, granting its truth, there have been worse prophets than he. 

J onathan Camp was the head of a family the history of which has 
largely been a chronicle of deeds for the church. Like his ances- 
tors before and his descendants after him, the Jonathan Camp of a 
century age was not of the fearing and trembling, but of the un - 

from the Indians, by Roger Ludlow and Edward’s son, John, is the child re- 
ferred to. This John Nash had a son, John, who was born on Christmas day, 
1688, which John was the father of Micajah, chorister in 1754, and Micajah was 
the grandfather of Daniel, who was father of the present Messrs. Edward H. 
and Andrew C. Nash, of Westport, and their deceased sisters, Julia Ann (Mrs. 
Joseph Wood) and Hannah (Mrs. Ezra Morgan, of Newtown.) 

* Built by Mrs. Elizabeth H. Colt. 

t Built by Mrs. Nathan Warren. 

$ Built mainly by Messrs. Edward H. and Andrew C. Nash. 

g Since the reading of this paper and as it is about to be sent to press, one 
of these clergymen, after twenty-six years’ arduous and self-unspairing rec- 
torship, has departed this life. 

The Rev. John Robinson Williams, rector, from 1860 to 1886, of Christchurch, 
Westport, was a sterling character. Sound, solid, sincere, patient, prudent, 
of strict honor and honesty, of great goodness of heart, and one who could be 
implicitly trusted, his example is a pattern, and his memory a blessed one. 
He died on Tuesday morning, October 26, 1886. 


35 


flinching type of churchman ship, and a staunch supporter of the 
parish. He was a practical man, and a man of principle, and con- 
tributed of his means, and brought material from his farm, and did 
and kept on doing as a matter of course. A hundred years ago last 
month he was appointed to office, and his son, Jonathan, in 1818, 
to the wardenship, and his grandson, Jonathan, Jr , in 1825, to the 
vestry, and, in 1868, to the upper office. The late bearer of the 
name enjoyed the family traditions, stood ready to assist the church 
at home, and rejoiced to learn of its progress abroad. The closing 
years of his usefulness were signalized by efforts for the permanent 
establishment of the church in South Norwalk.* 

Goold Hoyt is another name which adorns our parish page. He 
is introduced as leading, in 1780, in a subscription for the building 
fund of that year. He was elected church warden, in 1781, and 
himself and Thomas Belden, together, held the position until the 
death of Mr. Hoyt, in 1803, during fourteen years of which time 
he was society’s clerk also, and it is doing no injustice to his cotem- 
poraries to dedicate to him a mention which his intelligent interest 
in our welfare has caused him richly to merit. The parish could 
have made choice of no truer and more capable man than Goold 
Hoyt to fill its highest lay offices. His term of office embraced 
the period covered by the administrations of Drs. Dibble and 
Bowden, and Revs. Foot and George Ogilvie, and Dr. William 
Smith, and the beginning of the rectorship of Rev. Henry Whit- 
lock. He united with Thomas Belden in a letter to Bishop Seabury, 
acquainting the latter of the call, on the part of the parish, to the 
Rev. Mr. Ogilvie, and he records the adoption, in April, 1793, by 
the parish, of the “Constitution of the Protestant Episcopal 
Church in the State of Connecticut, as agreed upon by the clerical 
and lay delegates in convention at New Haven, June 6th, 1792.” 
Mr. Hoyt was the father of the late Goold Hoyt, Esq., of New 
York, whose generous legacy to it is very justly acknowledged, by 
the parish, upon the inscribed marble before the front of this edi- 
fice, and also of Ebenezer Dimon Hoyt, father of the late Munson 
and Edwin Hoyt, and of the surviving Mrs. Charles Hoyt and Mrs. 
J ohn Cleveland. Mr. Ebenezer D. Hoyt appears upon the parish 
record first, in 1813. His name is often repeated, and was not 
dropped until his death, in 1824. He was a worthy son, and is 
thought of with pleasure. The venerable James Moody Hoyt, 

* With his son Jonathan, of New Jersey, he took great pleasure in surveying 
and laying out the lot for Trinity Church and parsonage, South Norwalk. 


36 


vestryman, in 1854, was cousin, and the late James A. Hoyt, second 
cousin of the first Goold Hoyt.* 

Ebenezer Church, Sr., was a marked man of the parish century 
just completed, as was his son, Ebenezer, who had evidently been 
carefully educated church wise, and educated under the conviction 
that to be a thorough churchman one must first know. Ebenezer, 
Jr., was a reader, as were his three brothers, Josiah, Isaac and 
John, and his sister, Betsey, of commendable deeds. Our old peo- 
ple were not altogether ignorant as to old authors and authorities. 
There are volumes of very clever theology which are bethumbed, 
and worn, and for the contents of which their owners, such as 
Stephen Betts, for instance, and Hezekiah Jarvis, and this same 
Ebenezer Church, seem to have been thirsty, t These men, we 
repeat, read. Their belief was not a matter of liking; it was their 
judgment — their enlightened and consummate judgment that the 
truth lay in the creeds and articles of the church of which they were 
members; and no parish could be weak with such an element in it. 
So great was his reverence for the Word of God that it was the 
practice, with Josiah Church, to rise in his pew and remain stand- 
ing while the scripture lessons were being read. 

The Isaacs name covers quite a page of our history. Ralph 
Isaacs was a very early elected parish warden. He was one of 
nine who gave £20 each for the purpose of meeting the expense 
incurred in plastering, in 1749, the church which was burned, in 
1779. He advanced the funds for the building of the first parson- 
age, and was the largest of several contributors and subscribers 


* Goold Hoyt, Sr., built the comfortable Edwin Hoyt house and occupied it 
immediately after his marriage to Miss Elizabeth Dimon, of Fairfield. Mrs. 
Hoyt, in 1779, herself petitioned one of Tryon’s aids that he would interpose 
his authority and save the house from burning. Her petition prevailed, and 
the generous lady asked that her neighbor’s house on the right hand corner 
above, (formerly the Jennings,now the McClure property) might also be spared, 
which, it is said, was done. Goold Hoyt’s five children were : Thomas, born, 
in 1767, who built what was afterward known as the Henry Belden house; and 
Goold, born, in 1769, who removed to New York City; and Esther, born, 
in 1773, who married Henry Belden; and Ebenezer D., born, in 1776; who 
married Miss Huldah Hanford, and for whom was built the commodious 
Charles E. St. John house; and Munson, born, in 1781, who lived in New York, 
and was one of the most skilled and accurate accountants of his day. 

Isaac Hoyt, the father of the late Charles Hoyt, Esq., and of Mary, the 
mother of General William T. Sherman, one of the first soldiers of modern 
times, and of the Hon. John Shermaii, United States Senator, lived in South 
Norwalk, in the house, still standing, on the line of the street, the first dwell- 
ing west of the grounds of the late A. E. Beard. Miss Mary Hoyt, daughter 
of Isaac Hoyt, married Charles R. Sherman, whose home was the Nathan Beers 
site on Main street. Charles R. Sherman was son of Taylor Sherman, a Nor- 
walk lawyer, who is buried on Town House Hill. 

tThe favorite reading of one of the Church brothers was Bishop Horne on 
the Psalms. It was the practice of another former member of St. Paul’s, to 
take two candles with her, when she retired, that when the first was burned 
out the second might be lighted, and the reading continued. 


37 


for the benefit of the church from 1757 to 1759. He lived on the 
east side of upper East Avenue, at the foot of the north slope of 
Grumman’s Hill, and built for one of his children the Isaacs 
house, an interesting relic to the lovers of historical truth, which 
has recently been removed.* His son, Captain Benjamin, the 


*Tliis house was a landmark. It was a last century structure, with chim- 
ney of “Tubor-bulk,” and spacious hearths, which the ruddy Are had for gen- 
erations lighted up; and the substantial edifice, with its rear “kitchen” and 
adjoining orchard, and green lawns, and garden grounds, and native shrub- 
bery, and grass-imbedded stepping-stones, and paths, bordered with old 
fashioned • box,” was a picture of ancient and aristocratic comfort; and al- 
though a pretentious temple set apart to human benevolence, has supplanted 
it, still it is regrettfully admitted that the ancestral mansion is numberod 
among the things that were. 

The Isaacs (Benjamin and Charles) families, were the last of Dr. Kemper’s 
parishioners on the east side of West avenue, until was reached the house in 
South Norwalk, in which the Rev. Melancthon Hoyt (brother-in-law of theRev. 

B. M. Yarrington, of Greenwich, and pioneer missionary of our church in the 
west,) was born. This house stood nearly opposite the present store of F. H. 
Nash. About the only dwellings, in 1832, between these limits, and on that 
side of the street, were the James and Deborah Keeler houses (near thedwell- 
lings of the late Lewis Curtis and Mrs. Matilda Keeler,) and “the old red 
house,” and a small cabin (both of them a few rods south of Mrs. Deborah 
Keeler’s) and the house of Mr. James Benedict (which stood a few feet back of 
the present gateway to Mrs. Charles D. Matthew’s residence), and Mr. James 
Seymour’s house (not far from the midway point in Mrs. Matthews’ street 
line) and the Hotchkiss House (somewhat south of James Seymours), and 
Uriah Seymour’s (still standing), and Mr. William Wood’s house, and the 
Taylor house, (where General Washington dined, and where a little child 
from the Woods’ house came and was taken into his arms) and store and 
postoffi.ee (slightly north of the residence of Mr. J. H. Knapp) ; some ten dwell- 
ings in the place of thirty-nine to-day. 

Below the Isaac brothers’ property there wound a serpentine foot-path 
which doubled and trebled in places, and which, after a tortuous course 
from Chapel to Beatty street corners, and around the nest of small rocks with 
edges just above ground in front of the Beatty Brothers’ yards, and amid 
the twisting elm-roots further on, and under James Seymour’s grateful maple 
shades, became more regularly defined for the remainder of the way to the 
upper corner leading to the Pottery dock, and the lower (the Chichester 
corner) to the steamboat landing. 

The old St. Paul’s homes on the west side of the same avenue were : John 
Belden’s (afterward Mrs. Eliza Selleck’s) ; and Isaac Belden’s (now occupied by 

C. B. DeKlyn); and the Samuel White house, which faced the Phillips house, 
and stood on the corner below. The Prospect Hill road diverged at right 
angles from West avenue and the Whites’ house was built on the south cor- 
ner and fronting north. The topography of this locality was changed by the 
cutting through of the New York Turnpike. Peter White and his son, Samuel, 
were intelligently helpful members of St. Paul’s. The former married Eliza- 
beth Jarvis, and the latter was great-grandfather of Mr. George Willis White, 
of St. Paul’s to-day. 

After the spoliation, in 1779, a number of more ambitious dwellings suc- 
ceeded to the simpler consumed structures. Among the former were the 
Lockwood dwellings on Knight street and hill, and the Samuel Cannon and 
Governor Bissell homes on Town House Hill. [Between the Cannon and Bissell 
sites, was the anti-revolution residence of the future “Blackstone of Amer- 
ica,” James Kent, L.L. D., chancellor, the mother of whom dying, in 1770, the 
son passed (see page forty-four) some time in Norwalk. His father (Moss Kent, 
Esq.) married again, and resided close by the Westport waters, about opposite 
the lateBurritt grounds] : “The John Cannon, Jr., house, over a parlor mantel 
of which is a painting (reality or imagination) of lively sensibility, and 
cleverness of treatment, by, it is believed, the builder of the house : The Eben- 
ezer Hoyt house, and its long ago bird-tenanted lawn : The “Esquire Betts,” 
(later, Edward H. Street) accessible precincts : The senior William St. John’s 
homestead with faultless green in front, and delightful forest patch behind, 
and quiet stream meandering gracefully through it : The Jun. Win. St. John’s 
High street hearthstone, which commanded the harbor, and the silver rippled 


38 


first occupant of the Isaacs house before spoken of, was a pew holder 
and although young, was of conspicuous rank in the masonic body, 
and first master of the lodge in this town. He died, in 1775, and 
is buried in this yard. He left three sons. His middle son, Ben- 
jamin, 2d., was chosen, in 1789, with Amos Belden, to “collect 
contributions” in the gallery of the new church. His oldest son, 
Isaac Scudder, subscribed for the temporary church and largely for 
the new church of 1786. In April, of the latter year Hezekiali Jar- 
vis and himself were appointed choir masters, and were therefore 
leaders of the music at the consecration that year. Isaac Scudder 
Isaacs’ son, Benjamin, was the well-remembered Judge Isaacs of 
modern times. He was chosen clerk, in 1815, in which capacity he for 
thirty years diligently served the parish. He married a daughter of 
one of the most estimable residents of this place, Dr. Richard Bryan,* 
whose three daughters, Ann, Maria, and Sophia, of godly remem- 
brance, long survived their parents. The other sons of Isaac S. 
Isaacs were Charles, vestryman, in 1831, t who died, in 1872, and 
John, and William , n. . . ■ . 

The clerks of the parish since its organization, in 1737, have been: 
1737-1741, no record; 1741-1758, William Jarvis; 1758-1780, no 
record ; 1780-1789, Hezekiali Belden ; 1789-1803, Goold Hoyt ; 
1803-1815, Jacob Osborn ; 1815-1844, Benjamin Isaacs ; 1845-6-7, 
Richard B. Isaacs; 1848-1855, Thomas B. Warner, Jr.,} 1856-1881, 
Charles T. Leonard ; 1881, St. John Merrill. 

It will be observed that there is a break in the records from 1758 
to 1780. This middle of the eighteenth century was a period during 
which the colony of Connecticut, with its one hundred and thirty 
thousand souls, § among whom were two or so thousand churchmen, 
was tasting hardship. ‘ ‘In another century Europe will be powerless 
to embarass us,” taught one of that day and of these parts, but before 


sound beyond : The William Jarvis Street house of pleasurable recollection : 
The Belden (John, Isaac, and Henry) houses: The Phillips (now VanBuren) 
ample domain on West avenue : The hospitable Jarvis and Bryant houses: 
“The Tames Brown mansion :” The Joseph St. John (afterward Lewis Mallory) 
plaoe : The Grumman house, under the hill, called after its whilom owner : 
The James Cannon (now Mrs. Jonathan Camp) dwelling, not far from the 
tomb (so stated,) of some who fell in the France street action of “the battle of 
Norwalk The Isaac’s house before alluded to, and the Gregory house men- 
tioned on page fifty-seven. These all were reared before the present pictur- 
esque effect turning point in architecture had been reached, stili were they 
goodly abodes; and abodes the careers of the inmates of which have much 
enriched Norwalk history. 


♦Dr. Richard S. Bryan. Jr., vestryman, in 1828, removed to Troy, New York, 
and was one of the most influential and successful practitioners, of the Hom- 
oeopathic School, in Renesselaer County. 

t See note next page. 

JDied in 1883. in Springfield, Massachusetts, and buried in Norwalk. 

§ The census of Connecticut, in 1756, was 128,212 whites; 3,587 colored; and 
of Norwalk, 2,956 whites; 94 colored. 


t 


39 


young Adam’s prediction could be accomplished, trouble must be- 
fall. It was at such a crisis that Dr. Learning came to this place ; 
and that there should be paucity of record at that time — is due quite 
probably, to the disturbed condition of affairs then existing. 

With one exception, that of Jacob Osborn, we have made allusion 
to all of the parish clerks who have gone; and his fidelity deserves 
at least a passing remark . His painstaking transcript of twelve years’ 
doings, on the part of this society, is evidence of his devotion to the 
work, and was the price of labor. The care which he exercised, in 
both composition and chirography, bespeaks the accuracy which 
seems to have been characteristic of the man. Mr. Osborn was son 
of Nathan Osborn, of Westchester County, New York, and grand- 
father of Mr. Charles F. Osborn, for twenty years the faithful treas- 
urer of the parish. 

The Parish Wardens since 1737, have been Ralph Isaacs, Samuel 
Cluckston, James Brown, Nathan Nash, Capt. Joseph Ketchum, 
Ebenezer Church, William Johnson, Thomas Belden, Goold Hoyt, 
David Boult, Hezekiah Jarvis, Daniel Nash, Samuel Bouton, Samuel 
Cannon, Jonathan Camp, Stephen Mott, David St. John. Joseph 
W. Hubbell, Eseck Kellogg, Winfield S. Hanford, John H. Smith, 
Jonathan Camp, Jr., Allen Betts, James Finney and Edward K. 
Lockw r ood. 

Of these Captain Samuel Cluckston and Joseph Ketchum were 
founders of St. Paul’s. William Johnson was the largest donor, 
evidently, to the church which was burnt in 1779. Stephen Mott, 
father of Langdon and Miss Eliza, and father-in-law of Rev. Dr. 
Humphreys, of Maryland, was held in regard. David St. John, 22 
years vestryman and 33 years warden, lived distant from the house 
of God, but was one of the most punctual attendants upon the means 
of grace. Joseph W. Hubbell came from Bridgeport, in 1829, and his 
candor of Christian character entitled him to the respect which was 
paid him. Eseck Kellogg was a safe man, and after 40 years’ ser- 
vice as vestryman, earned the higher bestowment. Winfield S. 
Hanford devised liberally and liberally did; the friends of the 
church in South Norwalk owe not a little to his generosity. 

The vestrymen of the parish from 1737 to 1779 were : 
Hezekiah Whitney, Ebenezer Church, Amos Manvew, Peter 

tCharles Isaacs was the only one of the Isaacs name who has been a vestry- 
man of St. Paul’s. He was great-grandson of Ralph Isaacs (warden), and 
through his mother, gr. gr. grandson of Governor Fitch. His wife (Rebecca 
Fitch Betts) and her brother (Daniel F.), and sisters, Susan, (Mrs. Thomas Ben- 
edict, Jr ), Henrietta, (Mrs. Charles Mallory), Harriet, (Mrs. Thomas C. Han- 
ford) and Sarah E., were great grand nephew and neices of the same chief mag- 
istrate. Mr. Isaacs was of solid character. He was held in high respect as a 
public man, and his integrity, and conspicuous good nature, caused him to 
be much esteemed in private life. 


40 


White, Josiah Marvin,* Gideon Kellogg, Jonathan Camp, 
Nehemiali Rogers, Micajah Nash, Thomas Hanford, David Tut- 
tle,! Edward Nash, Ebenezer Smith, Captain John Cannon, 


*The descent of whom appears to be as follows : Josiah Marvin, (chosen a 
vestryman, in 1754, in which capacity he served with such men as Jonathan 
(lamp, and Nehemiali Rogers, and Micajah Nash, and Thomas Hanford, and 
David Tuttle,) was the son of Samuel, who was son of Matthew, Jr., who was 
son of Matthew, Sr., or the father of the Norwalk family, and one of the two 
fathers of the American family of that name. The original Marvins were 
two brothers, Reynold and Matthews, and one sister, Elizabeth. Matthew, 
brother of Reynolds and Elizabeth, was thirty-five years old when he came to 
this country, and fifty-one when he came to Norwalk. He went first to Hart- 
ford, of which place he ivas one of the settlers, and in which city he was a 
surveyor, residing on the corner of the old “Village” and “Front” streets. 
His son, Matthew, who was now twenty-four years old, accompanied his 
father to Norwalk : they occupied adjoining home-lots, the father close by the 
present house of H. M. Prowitt, Esq., and facing East avenue, and the son 
backing upon his father’s lot, fronting the south, and bounded in that direc- 
tion by the present street running west from East avenue, and just north of 
the Consolidated Railroad. This street was a part of the ancient mail-coach 
route between Stamford and Fairfield. The Marvins came from the same coun- 
ty as the Fitches, and father and son lived in Norwalk about the same length 
of time. Matthew, Sr., died somewhere between 1680 and 1790, it is thought 
about 1687, and his son died in 1691. Among Matthew, Sr’s., brother Reinold’s 
(or Reynold’s) descendants are : Gen. Elisha Marvin, and Judges Richard P. 
and William Marvin, and Congressman Dudley Marvin ; and from Matthew 
are traced the honored Norwalk, and Wilton, and Westport families of the 
Marvins Matthew Marvin, Jr., had six children, one of whom, Sarah, mar- 
ried Thomas Betts, the ancestor of that branch of the family from which the 
late George W. Betts, Esq., and the venerable Norwalk sisters, Miss Juliette 
and Miss Harriet Betts descended, and the youngest child, Samuel, was the 
father of Josiah, the vestryman, in 1754. Josiah died about the time that the 
church was burned. He had six sons and four daughters. His sons were 
Daniel, William. Jared, John (who died in Nova Scotia), Josiah, Jr. (who died on 
Long Island), und Samuel (see Talcott’s New York and New England Fami- 
lies.) Vestryman Josiah Marvin’s aunt, Elizabeth, (Matthew, Jr’s., daughter), 
married Joseph Platt, who has the remarkable record of General Assembly 
representative from Norwalk for one-half a century. The occupant of the office 
for the greatest number of years since the Revolution, was the late Benjamin 
Isaacs, who represented this town at the state capitol during thirteen sittings 
of the legislature; the same Benjamin Isaacs (St. Paul’s parish clerk from 1815 
to 1846), who so possessed the confidence of his fellow townsmen, that he held 
the office of town clerk during a period of thirty years. 

Matthew Marvin, Sr., had several children. Four were born abroad. The 
first one born in, America was Abigail, who, on June or January 1st., 1657, 
married John Bouton, of Norwalk. John Bouton came to this country before 
he was twenty-one yeai-s old, in 1635, and went, after residing in Massachu- 
setts, to Hartford, where he married and had a child or children. He removed 
from Hartford to Norwalk, in 1651, and, in 1657, married Abigail Marvin, as 
before stated. To them were born five children, the oldest of whom were sons, 
John, born Sept. 30, 1659, and Matthew, born Dec. 24, 1661. Matthew, after a 
time, removed to Danbury, and John remained in Norwalk, married, and had 
two sons, Jakin and Joseph. Jakin was twice married, had two children by 
his first wife, and two sons and several daughters by his second wife. His 
oldest son by his second wife was Esaias Bouton, made a vestryman, in 1792, and 
who was father of Nathan and Stephen Bouton, of Troy civil and ecclesiastical 
note and great-grandfather of one of Westport’s highly respected residents, 
and for many years principal practicing physicians, George B. Bouton, M. D. 

t He married Mary Reed, oldest daughter of John Reed, of south-western 
Norwalk. John Reed was an Englishman — one of Cromwell’s officers. After 
residing in different portions of the colonies, he removed to Norwalk, in 1684, 
and purchased a farm at Five Mile River. His son-in-law, David Tuttle, (ves- 
tryman, in 1754), had three sons and four daughters. 

Matthew Reed, St. Paul’s vestryman, in 1782, and Matthew Reed, the New 
York city alderman and bank president, of some forty or fifty years ago, and 
also Mrs. Isaac Belden, and the Wilsons of Belden’s Neck, and the Benedicts, 
and some of the Seymours of South Norwalk, were, and are, the descendants 
of Vestryman Tuttle’s father-in-law, and Vestryman Eliakim Warrens gr. gr. 
grandfather, John Reed. 


41 


Joseph Hitchcox, Jr., John Betts. Jr., Samuel Fitch, Jr.,* Elias 
Scribner. 

Hezekiah Whitney was the first recorded vestryman of this 


*The familiar name of Fitch — anciently Ffytche, and in early Norwalk an- 
nals, Fiitch, but now Fitch — Samuel, Jr., Lindall, John, Joseph, Platt, Stephen 
and Bushnell, occurs at different times in the parish records. The branch of 
the family represented by some of these is historic. Samuel, Jr., who was 
vestryman as early as 1757, was the nephew of Governor Thomas Fitch, and 
Lindall, who was a generous donor in 1742 and 1751, and son of Nathaniel, 
who, in 1742, left a legacy to the parish, was second cousin. As a number of 
the members of this old colonial family, and several direct descendents of the 
crown-commissioned governor and his nephew have been attached to St. Paul’s 
and its daughter parishes, the author has borrowed a limb from that sec- 
tion of the family tree, which, as a help to him in tracing its genealogy, he had 
constructed, and which, for the convenience of any who may be interested in 
the matter he has caused to be placed at the close of the appendix to this docu- 
ment. Samuel Fitch, Jr., son of Governor Fitch’s brother Samuel, and vestry- 
man as early as 1757, married Elizabeth Platt and lived upon the fine eight- 
eenth century Fitch estate, near the property of the Finch Brothers, (1886) on 
Chestnut Hill. Himself and wife rode regularly to and from St. Paul’s, stop- 
ping in cold weather at Mrs. Fitch’s relatives, on Newtown avenue, to re- 
plenish the foot stove with live embers, there being in those primitive days no 
other fire in the church. The son of Samuel Fitch, Jr., viz. : the Samuel born 
in 1761, was the father of Joseph Platt Fitch and grandfather of Mr. Sherman 
Fitch and his sisters who are to-day such active members of St. Matthew’s 
church, Wilton. The Chestnut Hill homestead, a hundred or more years 
ago, was one of the favorite resorts of Mrs. Nehemiah Rogers, nee Miss Eliza- 
beth Fitch, who, after her husband’s decease, in 1760, and her subsequent 
removal from Norwalk, often returned hither. Her own and Mrs. Rogers’ 
relatives were numerous in this town. Her father lived for a number of 
years after his son-in-law’s death. She had a brother on Chestnut Hill, and 
her daughter, Mrs. Susanna Lambert, resided in great comfort about one 
mile to the west of Chestnut Hill. Some of our people to-day tell of the 
arrival, in early times, in Norwalk, and of the call at the doors of the Rog- 
erses, of the Lambert establishment, if not a modern Tally-Ho, yet approxi- 
mating to it, which was quite an event in the place. An eloquent tribute has 
been paid to the late Mrs. Hannah Fitch Bullard, mother of Gen. Edward 
Bullard, of Saratoga Springs, and possibly the same might have been said of 
Mrs. Elizabeth Rogers of a century and a quarter ago, viz. : “A descendant 
of Sir Thomas Fitch, she inherited the energy and magnamity as well as the 
blood and honor of the English nobility.” It was Mrs. Rogers’ practice to 
leave with those who had entertained her some souvenir of her visit, as 
those of her line to-day tell and produce the evidence of. Her portrait, and a 
fine painting of her daughter Susanna (Mrs. David Lambert, Jr.) grace the walls 
of the Lambert home in Wilton, in which the clergy of St. Paul’s in gone days 
were so warmly welcomed. The late David Rogers Lambert and his brother 
Samuel Fitch Lambert in their youth attended school in Norwalk, residing 
at the Fitch home, down town, now occupied by Mrs. Theodocia Bradley. 

Some of the Norwalk kindred of Nehemiah Rogers, whom his widow, Mrs. 
Elizabeth (Fitch) Rogers visited, have been the progenitors of families of 
note in America. Her brother-in-law. Dr. Uriah Rogers, Sr., who bought 
where the brothers James and Alfred Mallory afterward built, was a citizen 
of high standing. His daughter, Hannah, was the mother of Chancellor 
Kent, and his granddaughter, Hannah, married into the Zephaniah Platt 
family, of Plattsburgh, and his cousin, Elizabeth, was the grandmother of 
Miss Francis M. Calkins, the historian, of New London, Conn. His relative, 
Betsey, may be remembered from the circumstance of his grandson (Chan- 
cellor Kent) visiting and caring for her in Norwalk. His son, Dr. Uriah, Jr., 
occupied what has since been known as the Betsey Church place, which after 
Miss Church’s death, became the property of St. Paul’s parish, and then of 
the late Reuben Williams, but is now owned by Mr. Edward Merrill, who has 
within a few years erected a new house upon it. Dr. Rogers, Jr., was a man 
of promise. He married Elizabeth Raymond, sister of Esther (Mrs. Hezekiah 
Rogers), and of Mary (Mrs. Isaac Hoyt, General and Senator Sherman’s 
grandmother), and of Hannah (Mrs. Lemuel Brooks, who, as well as the other 
sisters, were all staunch church women), and he was great-uncle of Judge 
William Kent, professor in Harvard College Law School, and was a brother of 
the maternal head of that branch of the Scribner family from whi h the late 
Charles Scribner, the senior of the large New York publishing house of Scrio- 


4 2 


parish. He was elected one hundred and thirty-five years ago. 
His father, Joseph Whitney, owned the Thatcher Mill site on the 


ner & Co., sprang, and was also a connection of John Hone, the prominent 
last century New York merchant, and of William Pinckney Stewart, and of 
the Lorillards. He was a young man of repute, and his profession was a 
benign one, but his life was short, and when the circumstances of his con- 
spicuous kinship, and fine attainments, and brief career are recalled, there is 
seen to be real pathos in his epitaph : 

“ Beneath this humble stone 
lye the remains of 
URIAH ROGERS, M.D. 
who died Dec. 23, 

1776 
agd 38 

‘ Sic transit gloria mundi.’ ” 

Before his death he sold his house in lower France street, and after his day 
its tenant was Roger Minot Sherman, a nephew of Hon. Roger Sherman, one 
of the Connecticut signers of the Declaration of Independence, and a cousin 
of Mrs. Martha Day, wife of President Day, of Yale College, and of Rebecca, 
wife of Hon. Simeon E. Baldwin, and of Mabel, the grandmother of Hon. William 
M. Evarts, of New York. Taylor Sherman, who practiced law in this town 
contemporaneously with Roger Minot Sherman, and who was the forefather 
of some of the distinguished of the land, was not of the same lineage as Roger. 
There seem to be two lines of the Sherman family in this country. Captain 
John, great-grandfather of Roger M., married, it is thought, before he came 
from England. He died in 1690, and left a son Joseph. Joseph had a son 
William, who was the father of Hon. Roger Sherman, and another son, Josiah, 
who was the parent of Roger Minot, the Norwalk lawyer. Taylor Sherman, 
grandfather of Major General William T. Sherman, U. S. A., and of Hon. John 
Sherman, late Secretary of the Treasury, was a descendant, it is probable, of 
William Sherman, who came over somewhere about 1630. The family is evi- 
dently an ancient one, and of German origin, although it has been represent- 
ed in England for many hundred years. Taylor Sherman’s son, Charles R. 
Sherman married Miss Mary Hoyt, who belonged to one of the oldest of St.Paul’s 
families. Her mother was a Raymond from South Norwalk, sister-in-law, it 
may have been observed, of Hon. Hezekiah Rogers, who lived fora time in the 
old Quigley place, on Main street, but who died in Washington. Major Heze- 
kiah Rogers, who was delegate to the Connecticut convention, held in 1788, 
which ratified the Constitution of the United States, was another son of Dr. 
Uriah, Sr., and consequently nephew of Mrs. Elizabeth (Fitch) Rogers, and 
granduncle of Rev. James Kent Stone, for a number of years past the princi- 
pal of a monastery in South America, and uncle, by marriage, of the New York 
Lawrences, who, it may be remembered, resided many years since transiently 
in Norwalk. 

The junior doctor Rogers’ wife survived him for sixty years. The doctor 
sold the France street property before his death, and the widow’s home, for 
a portion of the time since, appears to have been at the foot of the hill near 
St. Paul’s. She is buried at a little distance from her husband, and there is 
danger of her tomb becoming an uninscribed one from the gradual crumbling 
of the marble, the record of which is : — “ In Memory of Elizabeth, Relict of 
Doctor Uriah Rogers, who died October 27th, 1836, aged 91 years.” Her hus- 
band’s honored father and mother, Dr. and Mrs. Uriah Rogers, Sr., are buried, 
the former in Norwalk and the latter in Redding. The doctor has this 
memorial : 

Here lyes interred the body of 
DOCT. URIAH ROGERS, 
who departed this fleeting scene 
on the evening following the 6th day of May, 

1 773, 

In the 63d year of his age. 

It was this same physician’s son who was the extensively known Dr. David 
Rogers, of Greenfield Hill, while Dr. David Rogers, 2d., of East Broadway, 
New York, (uncle of Judge Alfred E. Austin, of Norwalk, and of his sister, the 
wife of Professor Richardson, of Trinity College, Hartford,) was his grandson ; 
and it was a direct descendant, in the fourth generation from his father, 
(buried down town,) who was the Captain Moses Rogers, (see Dwight’s Rogers’ 
lineage) commander of the first steamship (Savannah, fourteen days by steam, 
and eight by sail) that crossed to Europe. 

One of the Fitch families, from 1700 to 1730, is an unusually interesting sub- 
ject of contemplation. Thomas and Rachel Fitch presided over it, and, with 


43 


corner, now the property of the heirs of the late Joseph W. Hub- 
bell. Mr. Whitney was the uncle of Mrs. Sarah McGriggor, of 
Main street, who gave twenty-eight thousand dollars to church 
purposes. His grave is near the south gate of this yard, and his 
gravestone is thus inscribed: “In memory of Hezekiali Whitney, 
who departed this life April 30th, 1790, in the 86th year of his age.” 

Amos Manvow brought of the products of his land, timber, logs 
and wood, and gave to the church. Peter White dwelt next 
below the Phillips place, on West avenue, and himself and son, 

their four children, Thomas, Samuel, James and Elizabeth, composed it. The 
father was grandson of the most important proprietor of the place, was throne- 
appointed notary, and elected selectman of the town, and was not a stranger 
outside of it. He was addressed as Mr., (Master) which was a colonial title of 
respect, and he provided that at least one of his sons should receive a complete 
education. The home was an unbroken one until the decease, in the spring 
of 1731, of its paternal head, who before he was taken hence, saw his daughter 
settled in life, and his college boy graduated, and started upon a career which 
became illustrious, and also beheld several grandchildren who were destined 
to celebrity. Twenty-nine days before his departure, he had distributed 
portions to those who were to be left behind, making thoughtful provision for 
the one about to be widowed, and dividing between the brothers and the 
daughter that which would conduce to the comfort of both, and intrusting 
his landed interests to the management of his competent sons, the descent 
from one of whom, (Thomas, the governor,) is detailed at the conclusion of 
this volume. His son Samuel was the father of Samuel, Jr., the vestryman of 
St. Paul’s parish in 1757. Samuel, Jr., made choice, for a bride, of a miss in 
her very teens, but she was a sensible and industrious young woman and 
made the Chestnut Hill home a happy one. The handed-down narrative of 
the visits to the couple, by their kin, is pleasing, and the picture of the two 
coming from such a distance to the old St. Paul’s, is instructive. It was from 
this goodly pair that Mr. Sherman Fitch and his sisters, now of Wilton, have 
descended. Through Samuel, Sr’s, other sons, Daniel and Jonathan, Mrs, 
James Mallory, and also the children of the late Mrs. Lucretia Daskam have 
claim to the Fitch blood. Elizabeth, the only daughter of Samuel, Sr., mar- 
ried Nehemiah Rogers, another vestryman of St. Paul’s; and it may be ques 
tioned whether, in the whole United States, there can be found a family con- 
taining a larger number of prominent (socially and professionally) members 
than does the family which has Elizabeth Fitch, daughterof Samuel Fitch, 
Sr., and neice of Governor Thomas Fitch, for its progenitress. James Fitch, 
the other son of “Thomas Fitch,” and brother of Governor Fitch, and of 
Samuel, Sr., and of Elizabeth (who married Josiah Raymand,) has descendants 
living in Norwalk. One of these, Miss Susan Fitch, peacefully dwells to day 
in the lot through which thunders the “lightning train,” the old quiet home 
lot of the Seamores or Seymours. 

After the author had gotten well to work upon his Rogers’ genealogy, and 
was bringing the family lines together, his eye ran across the following par- 
agraph from the pen of one whose contributions have considerably aided 
him : “ It is to be hoped that, at some near day, some one will undertake to 
tell to others, who are specially interested in knowing it, just as it was truly 
unfolded to view, in its historical aspects of beauty and power of inspiration, 
and of influence for good upon others, the story of ancestral virtue and ex- 
cellence, in the full measure of its real worth, in respect to the two kindred 
lines of Rogerses, of Norwalk, Conn.” 

That some one, competent so to do, may continue and carry on to comple- 
tion that which has been by several commenced in this direction, is a con- 
summation to be desired. His summer and autumn work has been a pleasing 
one to the author, and he looks upon it as a privilege, that he is permitted, 
by these reminisences, to plant his sprig of ivy around the memories of so 
many of these excellent ones, and improves this opportunity to give expres- 
sion to a practical thought which has every now and then suggested itself to 
him, during the closing season’s efforts, viz. : that action, public or private, 
be taken, before it is too late, to rescue from obliteration the graven histories 
in St. Paul’s, and the Down Town, and the Town House Hill, and the Pine Is- 
land burial grounds. 


44 


Samuel, deserve mention. There is good account of help rendered 
and work done by Josiali Marvin and Gideon Kellogg. Nehemiah 
Rogers* stands with the very first as to amount subscribed for the 
church of 1743. 


*A stone of slate, which stands in the East Norwalk (Down Town) burial 
ground, is thus inscribed : 

“ Here lyes Buried 
The Body of Mr 
NEHEMIAH ROGERS, 
who departed this life 
May ye 30th 1760 aged 
42 years & 12 days.” 

and the sleeper beneath was in life a vestryman of St Paul’s, and the founder 
of a family of wide reputation in this land. 

James Rogers, 3d, (Capt. James, who was son of James, 2d, navigator, and 
grandson of the first James of the Rogers family in America) came with certain 
of his household to Norwalk, from New London, in or about the year 1726. He 
had fourteen children, and he bought from Ebenezer Keeler some six acres in 
the lower part of the town, with dwelling house, and barn, and fences, and fruit 
trees, and tide mill thereon standing, paying for the same between fourteen 
and fifteen hundred dollars. This seems to have been the homestead, but 
he was quite a land holder outside of this purchase; he was possessed 
of seven acres of the timber tract in “Indian Field,” (a locality mentioned 
in the accompanying address), and of a four-acre house-lot, with dwell- 
ing and barn, which had belonged to one John Smith, and on May 16, 1727, 
was deeded to “James Rogers, late of New London, now of Norwalk,” fora 
consideration of several hundred dollars, the eligible corner on the opposite 
side of the street, and a little distance north of the present East Norwalk rail- 
road station, while a short time before his death he invested rather largely 
in Commonage land. He was a citizen of Norwalk about seven years, and 
until his decease in 1733. He appointed Samuel Cluckston (church warden 
in 1737) one of his executors, and distribution of his will was “ performed 
on March 15, 1739-40,” his son James (of New London) being first named by 
the executors, and afterward his daughter Mary (Mrs. Jonathan Chester), 
and Esther (Mrs. John Seabury, of Groton, Conn, the birthplace of Bishop 
Seabury) and Uriah, (Dr. Uriah, of Norwalk, who came hither probably with 
his father, and who here married Hannah, daughter of James Lockwood 
and granddaughter of Samuel Smith, evidently the same Samuel Smith 
who was a heavy, 1687, Commons proprietor, and appointed by the first 
Thomas Fitch an “Overseer” of his will), and Jedediah, and Nehemiah, 
and Edward, and Stephen, and Moses, who, March 24th, 1749, was “sup- 
posed to be deceased,” and Aaron (who removed to Wethersfield), and Lemuel. 
There were also Elizabeth, and Claron and Samuel, but they did not share, if 
the record is correct, in the distribution. He instructed his executors, in 
1732, to make provision for the education of his four younger children (all of 
whom at that time were under fourteen), and mentioned a certain amount 
which he wished expended upon their “bringing up.” His son Nehemiah, 
who is buried under the stone before spoken of, and to whom this note 
refers, was a benefactor of St. Paul’s, and signalized his adoption into the 
parish by a donation to it, in 1742, and was himself earnest and helpful, 
and loaned later of his son’s time and effort. He was elected second vestry- 
man in 1754, His brother, Dr. Uriah, a physician of the place and owner of 
several rolling acres north of St. Paul’s, was the grandfather of one of world- 
wide celebrity in his profession, the eminent jurist, Chancellor James Kent, 
a portion of whose boyhood was spent in this town. The chancellor’s mother, 
Hannah (Rogers) Kent, died while her son was but a mere lad, but some of 
our older residents may possibly recall the chancellor’s widow (Mrs. Elizabeth 
[Bailey] Kent), who survived her husband and lived until 1851. She was sis- 
ter of Gen. Bailey, of the U. S. Senate and the mother in-law of an eminent 
clergyman of the church, Dr. John S. Stone, rector of Trinity Church, New 
Haven, and of St. Paul’s, Boston, and finally, Professor of Systematic Divinity 
in the Theological School at Cambridge, Mass. 

Nehemiah, brother of Dr. Uriah and the others, married Elizabeth, daugh- 
ter of Governor Fitch’s brother Samuel. It was from her branch of the family, 
therefore, and that of her grandfather’s cousin Nathaniel, that the Fitch 
churchmen proceeded. Her father held office under the king and was a 
large land proprietor. He inherited, by will, the bay view tract which skirts 


A 


45 


Thomas Hanford,* presumably the son of Capt. Elnathan, and 
great-grandson of the first Thomas, who was the first of all the 

the harbor to the east of Gregory’s Point, and which has of late years been so 
much improved by W T oodbury G. Langdon, Esq. He was also part owner of 
some of the Norwalk Islands, and had a hundred acres in one piece on 
Chestnut Hill. One of the Norwalk ante-revolutionary Elizabeth Fitches 
(there were several of the name) has been called Queen Elizabeth, but not one 
of them, perhaps, more justly merited the title than did Mrs. Elizabeth Fitch 
Rogers, who, with respect at least to the particulars of honorable family 
connection, and a notable offspring, was a distinguished character. One 
traces with gratification the prosperous careers of her sons, Fitch, Moses, 
Henry and Nehemiah, all old New York brothers and merchants, and with 
admiration the descent from these. The family is, and has been, one of 
renown ; its ancestress had hardly been called hence ere the lineage em- 
braced the names of many who were already adorning private life, or be- 
coming conspicuous in its public walks. Had a few years more been vouch- 
safed her, she might have beheld some of her line serving their country at its 
own capital, or as its embassadors at capitals abroad, and others holding 
court at learning’s seat, and others still, whose great enterprise was securing 
for them great wealth, and whose recognized rectitude and respectability 
were dignifying and exalting social life, of the highest civilties and courtesies 
of which, they were the acknowledged representatives. 

There were these among the Kings of academic and military fame : Presi- 
dent Charles, L.L. D., of Columbia College, and General Rufus, of the United 
States Army, and United States minister to Rome : there were Dr. Richard 
Kissam Hoffman, the surgeon, and Dr. Maxwell, the physician ; there were 
some of the Bells and Winthrops, and Livingstons, and Bayards, and Grades, 
who were her children’s children, or related to her by name. One of the 
descendants wedded a daughter of Bishop Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright; 
another married Dr. Henry E. Montgomery, rector of the Church of the Incar- 
nation, N. Y. ; and another was the Rev. Dr. Smith Payne, rector of Calvary 
Church, N. Y., and afterwards of St. Johns, Washington, D. C. Mrs. Rogers 
was mother of one of the originators of Grace Parish, New York, and of that 
excellent vestryman’s (David Lambert, 1791-94) wife, Mrs. Susannah Lambert, 
of Wilton, and grandmother of Mrs. Catherine (Rogers) Sherwood, wife of 
Rev. Dr. Reuben Sherwood, of St. Paul’s from 1816 to 1830, whose daughter 
(Miss Catherine Sherwood, now of Hyde Park, N. Y.), was the second of the 
four rector’s daughters who have been born in this venerable parish parson- 
age, the first of whom having been Mary Elizabeth, daughter of Rev. Henry 
Whitlock, and the third Sarah S., daughter of Rev. James C. Richmond, and 
the last one, the little daughter (Miss Marjorie Clapp), of the present rector. 

Mrs. Nehemiah Rogers was made a widow in 1760, and after her children 
had grown and removed from Norwalk, she spent more or less of her time 
with them. She returned occasionally, however, to this place, and seemed 
towards the close of her life to be here for protracted periods. Her sons, 
during the war troubles, went to New Brunswick, and two of them, Fitch and 
Nehemiah, were two of the founders of the City of St. Johns; while the fol- 
lowing copy of a quaint and partially worn out original is a mention 
which concerns one of her daughters, and it suggests the care, as to the reg- 
istration of such matters, which our fathers exercised : “ Sunday evening, 
Dec. 27, 1769, at about 8 of the clock, David Lambert, son of David and Lau- 
rana Lambert, of Norwalk, and Susanna Rogers, daughter of Nehemiah and 
Elizabeth Rogers, of Norwalk, were married, Samuel Fitch, Esq., her grand- 
father, giving her away, and Rev. Jeremiah Learning performing [the] cere- 
mony.” 

Mr. Rogers died, as we have seen, in 1760, and from the distribution of his 
estate, made March 2d, 1780, it appears that Samuel, to whom he bequeathed a 
double portion of his goods, was his eldest son. He undoubtedly was the 
“your son” credited, in 1757, upon the parish ledger, by service rendered, and 
there is public record of him several years later than his father’s death. 

Fitch, the second son, took the mother’s family name, and married Hannah 
Bell, of the Isaac Bell home, which was beautifully situated near the wave- 
washed shores of the Sound not far from Shippan Point. He removed, in war 
time, from New England to New Brunswick, where he was'prominent, church- 
wise and citizen-wise, and afterward returned to Stamford in which place, 
according to Huntington, he died. 

Moses was the next child born, and he married as is hereafter stated. 

Henry, whose success was phenomenal, and the modes and habits of whose 


*See note, page 47. 


46 


•»> 


Norwalk Hanfords, and whose ancestress, Eglin Hanford, came 
over in 1635, a widow, in the ship Planter, from Sudbury, in Suf- 

business life were characterized by strict honor and integrity, married, for his 
first wife, Miss Catherine Van Raust, and for his second wife a North Carolina 
lady, Miss Frances Moore; Nehemiah, the type of a gentleman, and another 
of the worthful and wealthy merchantmen of the metropolis, married Miss 
Catharine Bell, of the Provinces. To Elizabeth, who was unmarried, was 
apportioned landed property in various parts of Norwalk. Susanna married 
David Lambert, as has been noticed, and Esther became the wife of Archibald 
Gracie, of Scotland, but a resident of New York, and an old time business man 
of great enterprise, large benevolence, and high standing. It was with this 
daughter that Mrs. Rogers’ ending years were spent, and in her abode the 
mother finally surrendered to the infirmities of age, and was gathered unto 
her fathers. She was fond of her native place, as before intimated, and her 
visits to it, during her city residence, are elsewhere alluded to. 

Moses, third son of Nehemiah and Elizabeth Rogers, married Sarah Wool- 
sey ; and Sarah Woolsey’s mother (Mrs. Benjamin Woolsey) was Esther, daugh- 
ter of St. Paul’s first warden, Ralph Isaacs. So that the quiet head stone which 
has for so many years stood in such a peaceful portion of St. Paul’s Church 
yard, and is lettered Mary (Rumsey) Isaacs, marks the sleeping spot of the 
grandmother, by marriage, of a member of Trinity Corporation, St. John’s, 
New Brunswick; and an old time vestryman of Trinity Church, New York; 
and a director of the old United States Bank ; and great-grandparent of Hon. 
Samuel Miles Hopkins, of New York City, Albany and Washington, (a descend- 
ant of whom has now purchased, and is improving, a portion of the old Stam- 
ford Point House,) and of other prominent members of American society. 
Mrs. Col. William Paterson VanRensselaer, (Sarah Rogers) daughter-in-law of 
the “Patroon” Stephen VanRensselaer, whose manor stood on the Hudson, in 
the city of Albany, is one of her great-grandchildren. It may be recalled that 
Col. Wm. P. VanRensselaer occupied, several years since, the Wilson home- 
stead, at Belden’s Point, and more recently a point or island near Greenwich, 
on the Sound. From Ralph and Mary Isaacs descended the Hon. Ralph I. 
Ingersoll, United States Minister to Russia, and his son, Ex-Governor Charles 
R. Ingersoll, of New Haven, who married Virginia, a daughter of Commodore 
Francis H. Gregory, of the U. S. navy, and formerly of Norwalk. 

Nehemiah Rogers is buried by the side of his father and mother. The tomb 
stones of the two parents read thus : 

__ “Here lyes Buried 

The Body of 
JAMES ROGERS, ESQ. 

Aged 58 years & 5 months 
Died July ye 13th 
1 7 3 3’’ 

“Here lies the 

Body of Mrs. 

FREELOVE ROGERS 
Relict to Capt. 

James Rogers Esq’r 
who died Jan. 

‘26th, 1739, in ye 46th 
year of her age.” 

It is possible that Mrs. Freelove Rogers was Capt. Rogers’ second wife. 

Vestryman David Lambert’s sister, Elizabeth, married Peter Lockwood, the 
great-grandfather of Miss Julia Abigail Lockwood, and her brothers, William 
B. E., and Colonel F. St. John Lockwood; and Peter and Elizabeth Lockwood 
were the parents of Lambert Lockwood, of Bridgeport, who married Elizabeth 
Roe, of New Jersey. Their son was the late Roe Lockwood, the New York 
publisher, and their grandson is the present George R. Lockwood, who has 
succeeded to his father. 

A daughter of Lambert and Elizabeth (Roe) Lockwood married Frederick 
T. Peet, of the old Pearl street dry goods firm of Bostwick & Peet. Frederick 
T. Peet was senior warden of St. Ann’s Church, Brooklyn, and Sunday school 
superintendent, also, under Doctor Cutler’s rectorship. He did not live to see 
the new St. Ann’s Church completed. His widow still survives, and resides on 
Columbia Heights, Brooklyn. 

James Rogers 1st. and Sr., the grandfather of James, buried in Norwalk, 
was a man of wealth and position in New London, and at the court of the colony. 


47 


folk, was collector of the rates in Dr. Learning’s time. His father 
gave with those who gave the most for the church burnt in 1779. 


He came over in the same ship with the Marvins. He was one of the catalogued 
Connecticut colonial gentlemen, whom the records designate by the prefix Mr. 

(Master.) The original Thomas Fitch, of Norwalk, was another of these. 

There were several such titled ones, in the early days, in this town. 

There obtains the impression that the Norwalk Rogerses are of the Doctor 
John Rogers (President of Harvard College, 1682,) affinity. President John 
Rogers’ father’s name was Nathanael; and if one who has seemingly taken 
much pains to collect and preserve family facts can be relied upon, he, 

(Nathanael born in 1598, in England, and who was one hundred and sixty- 
eight days on his passage to this land,) was great uncle to James Rogers, 3d., 
who is entombed in Norwalk, which makes President Rogers, and Nehemiah 
and Elizabeth Fitch Rogers, third cousins. President Rogers’ immediate 
descendants settled east or north-east of Connecticut. His son John was 
grandfather of Daniel Dennison Rogers, who, about a century ago, was one 
of the business men of Boston; and Daniel Dennison’s son, John, who died 
two years ago, was the father of John Rogers, the sculptor, whose summer 
residence is in the bordering town of New Canaan. 

In closing these foot notes to the Fitches and Rogerses the author would 
affirm that he — and here he ventures to again borrow the words of the able 
writer of the series of articles entitled, “The Rogers’ Lineage ,” a writer who is 
the grandson of President Dwight, of Yale College, and a descendant of the first 
elected warden of St. Paul’s parish — ‘Takes positive pleasu*e in recording 
these wayside discoveries of genealogical facts, as he kjiows that in other days , 
many an eye, not thought of now, will carefully traverse and curiously scan f 

and con over all that they can find preserved of such record s of the past with 
unmixed delight.” 

Commodore Francis H. Gregory, alluded to in the preceding note, was grand 
son of Jabez Gregory, who was assemblyman for several successive years; 
and son of Captain Moses Gregory, vestryman from 1839 to 1844, and Norwalk 
delegate to the convention of 1818, which formed the state constitution; and 
cousin of Hon. Thaddeus Betts, lieutenant-governor of Connecticut and United 
States senator, and uncle of James G. Gregory, M. D., (1886,) of Norwalk. 

Gregory, anciently Greggoire, is one of the oldest of Norwalk names. The 
forefather was John, and by grant, and Indian deed, and purchase, be became 
possessed of a valuable estate. His home domain was one of the best situated 
pieces of property in the settlement, embracing the tract, dotted to-day all 
over with dwellings, which extends from the Thomas Benedict place as far 
as to East Avenue, and which Is bounded north and south by the highway. 

He was one of the five heaviest real estate holders, and one of the eigh t 
heaviest commonage proprietors in the plantation, and was deputy to the 
general assembly in 1M>2. 


*The St. Paul’s Hanfords, of former days, were Thomas and Elnathan, and 
William, and Haines, and Eleazar, and Ories, and Nehemiah, and Samuel, Jr., 
and Thomas, 2d., and Abraham, and Theophilus, and Ebenezer; and Hannah, 
and Sarah, (widows.) 

Thomas and Elnathan, from whom the present Hanfords of the two Norwalk 
parishes sprang, were the first of the name to appear as members of St. Paul’s 
and they were good and true sons. The fathers in the past, by their deeds, 
said : •* Let us in this parish have worthy men,” and the success of the parish 
during the early and critical stages of its existence was, humanly speaking, 
achieved by hard work, and conscientious fidelity, on the part of just such 
children as Thomas and Elnathan Hanford, both of whom challenge our 
gratitude, and command our respect. A very thorough genealogy of the 
family has been compiled by one of its members, and should be published at 
an early date. 

Thomas Hanford was made first vestryman, at the first meeting, of which 
there is record, held after the Revolutionary War. The second Thomas Han- 
ford in Norwalk history, great-uncle, it is probable, of Thomas, of St. Paul’s, 
was one of the earliest school principals in the town. One of the codes, by 
which the settlers were governed, contained this clause : “After a town has 
increased to one hundred families, it shall support a grammar school.” 
Norwalk started with about twenty families, but, in Principal Hanford’s day, 
1692, the number was so large that better educational facilities were demanded. 

The children were compelled to attend school five full days of the week, and 
a half-day on Saturday. Sunday schools were not opened until one hundred 
and twenty-four years later, and a portion of Saturday morning was spent in 


48 


David Tuttle is credited by work done, and Edward Nash needs 
only to be named ; Ebenezer Smith was elected hi 1752, and Joseph 


the religious instruction of the young, who seemed to he happy, and healthy. 
They were not daintily brought up, but, on the contrary, hardily and indus- 
triously; still, it was not all work and no play with them, and between 
“chores” the boys amused themselves in hunting rabbits, catching fish from 
the mill pond, pitching quoits, and playing ball, and one of the girls’ princi- 
pal diversions seems to have been “samplar” marking. The old jumping-rock, 
which stood close to the highway, and the down town boys’ enjoyment of it, 
generations gone, are traditions to-day. The summerwas devoted to out-door 
toil, but, as autumn approached, husking parties, and apple parings, and 
quilting, (or rather tacking) bees, were of common occurrence, as were social 
evening gatherings, despite Zerrubabel Hoyt’s nine o’clock bell, which 
rang the young people home; and when winter settled drearily down, the 
bright reflections at night, across the glistening snow, through the small, 
old-fashioned seven-by-nine window panes, from open fireplace piled with 
back logs four feet long, were relieving, and cheering. The little folks’ hour 
after supper was spent before the blazing hearth, and near the huge chimney 
jambs, in watching the flames, or in feeding them with the shells of hickory - 
or butter-nuts, or in sitting around the “stand,” upon which burned one home- 
manufactured candle, and another stood ready for lighting, in the event of a 
neighbor’s dropping in. The lads, with quill pens between their fingers, and 
heads low bent, would be intent upon imitating the master’s copy, and the 
girls, employed in winding yarn, or possibly knitting, but with eye fixed 
upon the “English reader,” the leaves being held down by the snuffers. This, 
or like this, was somewhat of child-life down-town, years long ago. We partic- 
ularize “Down Town” for the reason that it was the first occupied portion of 
Norwalk, and has clustering round it, consequently, old, and not altogether 
uninteresting, local mentions and memories. 

It was here, near Enos Osborn, Esq.’s, house, that the wealthiest citizen of 
Norwalk, and one of the most opulent men in Western Connecticut two hun- 
dred years ago, lived. It was just north of the summit of “Goodman Hoyt’s” 
(the Hammersley) Hill, that Norwalk’s young student, and first representative 
at Yale College, resided. 

On the site of the Henry Fitch place (quite a model of the unpainted, 
shingle-sided, low-running, back-roof style of building, which succeeded to 
the log structures of the settlers), dwelt the ancestors of the Norwalk, and 
Wilton, and New Haven Olmsteads, and immediately south, where the Indians 
of yore hid, and afterward some of the Rogerses lived, and Mrs. Clark now 
inhabits, is the spot where the first of all of the name of Eli, or Ely, abode. 
In front of the Fitch property, which stretched to the river, occurred the 
wreck of the first steam craft which navigated the Norwalk waters ; an 
experiment, on a smaller scale, perhaps, but an improvement, nevertheless, 
upon the celebrated John Fitch experiment, a hundred years ago, next year, 
in the same line. Mr. Fitch’s steam yawl, the first steamboat the world ever 
saw, had an iron kettle for a boiler, with lid secured by bolts, and all went to 
pieces upon the banks of the pond, (not fifty miles from this town) upon 
which the bark was launched ; but a portion of the Norwalk vessel, which was 
preserved until a few years since, evidenced advance over Fitch, at least, 
in the construction of the boiler. In this district was erected the first school 
house known in these parts; twenty by sixteen, and “six feet between the 
joists.” Here, on one of the lower East avenue corners, the depression of land 
still indicating it, was the swamp, filled thickly w r ith bushes, which the red 
man was wont to take to after his depredations upon the fathers’ premises. 
Here is the gentle dale, a mere “scoop” in the land, in which the founders, 
with their one cook, inaugurated the settlement. Here, near the mighty iron 
highway of to-day, was the “old parade ground,” all alive on “Training 
days,” where, in all probability, was mustered the small, but heroic quota, 
who, under the command of the lamented Seeley, shouldered the musket and 
went, in 1675, to the Narraganset Country, to meet King Phillip, in an engage- 
ment in which a thousand Indian warriors were killed and wounded, and 
many helpless women and children burned alive. Here stood the enclosure, 
constructed for the protection of the settlers’ cattle from the wolves. Here, 
some few rods north of the Tide Mill, was built the cottage of one who came 
over when he was eleven years old, in the ship “Francis,” and was employed 
long before the war, and for a beneficent purpose, to beat the drum in the 
morning, and sound the horn “about twelve of the clock.” Here was the 
fathers’ “green,” a little distance from the east end of the South Norwalk 
carriage bridge, and along the new shore drive of 1886. Here was the “Old 
Fort Point” and its line of log houses. Here Norwalk was planted. Here 


49 


Hitchcock, Jr., if figures can be relied upon, was zealous. John 
Betts, Jr., and Samuel Fitch, Jr., and Elias Scribner were chosen 
in 1757. 

The vestrymen from 1779 to 1786 were: David Lambert, Thomas 
Hanford, James Bescou, Barnabas Marvin, Matthew Beed, James 
Fillow, John Saunders,* David Boult, Daniel Nash, Daniel Church, 
Samuel Hanford, Jacob Selleck. 

David Lambert resided remotely from the parish church, but its 
welfare was dear to his family, and children’s children have given 
expression of a perpetuated interest in it. James Bescou was of the 
family of Bescous, or Buscoes, or as sometimes spelled, Besiquees. f 
Near Five Mile Biver, stood, the house of Barnabas Marvin, He was 


were reared homes — homes completely unfurnished with the convenient ap- 
pliances of modern cleverness, and totally unembelished by the fertility and 
felicity of modern tastefulness, but homes, nevertheless, of happiness, and 
noteworthy and praiseworthy for truth and tenderness; homes within which 
were probably heard similarly to what has in these times been heard in one 
of the oldest and most storied of them, the softly blended voices of the ven- 
erable grandparent, between ninety and one hundred years of age, and the 
son in life’s prime, and the daughter-in-law, and several grandchildren, 
all reverently calling, at the day’s threshold, upon Our Father. Bless- 
ings upon such homes! They are, and they were, privileged homes, even if 
primitive and plain. Benediction upon them ! The secret of the Lord there 
tarries, and, like the patriarch’s tenement, thousand of years back, they are 
filled with angels. And here, finally (Down Town), we may, as taught by Col- 
umbia’s cherished laureate, salute the departed, who after their labors “by 
danger dignified, ’’ and their “hopes of cheerful old age, and a quiet grave, 
and grandchildren’s love forepitaph,’’ are embalmed, in the spot which they, 
themselves selected for their last resting ground. It was an ancient custom 
“to beat the parish bounds.” It had not exactly this for its object it is true, 
but lessons of devotion to God and country might possibly be impressed upon 
the minds of the young by occasionally taking them over our old ecclesiastical 
and civil sites. 

One of New England’s “Historic homes on Golden hills” (that of Dr. Rogers, 
“a distinguished physician, of strong and vigorous mind, and enjoying an 
extensive practice” — see note, page thirty-seven) stood on Town House Hill. 
Two prized articles were saved at the burning of the house, in 1779; a silver 
headed cane, the gift of Governor Fitch, and the Rogers coat of arms. Chan- 
cellor Kent, in a letter dated June 1st., 1846, and addressed to John C. Van- 
Rensselaer, Esq., says, “When I rode from Noi’walk (frogn his grandfather, 
Dr. Rogers, to Westport probably,— see note as before) on Sunday evening, 
December 30th, 1770, my aunt (Mr. VanRenssalears mother) came out to the 
street, and took me in her arms off the horse, for my blessed mother was 
dying, and did die in half an hour.” Another aunt of the distinguished young 
Norwalk visitor was ancestress of Dr. Elisha Kent Kane the Arctic Explorer. 
The Chancellor dying at his residence, in Union Square, New York, in 1847, 
was interred in Fishkill, N. Y. ; his father was buried in Wall street, New 
York City, and his grandfather on Town House Hill. 

In the Belden family bible, (Thomas Baskett, London, A. D., 1761), is this 
record, in the wife’s hand: “Elnathan Hanford departed this life, August, 
1764, August 24th, at two o’clock of the afternoon, in the fifty-eighth year of 
his age, and born January 23d.” Mrs. Elnathan (Hannah Bartlett) Hanford’s 
sister (daughter of John Bartlett,) manned John Belden, Jr., the brother of 
Thomas, and Hezekiah, and Samuel, and father of Isaac, and Henry, and 
Mary Esther Belden (Mrs. William St. John.) This bible, the property in late 
years of Miss Margaret and Miss Amelia Belden, has fallen to a descendant, 
now in life’s rosy dawn, to whom has been given, as a part of her name, the 
name of Belden. 


^“Society’s agent,” see p. 81. His two grandsons, (sons of Holmes Saunders) 
are now physicians in the central or western part of the state of New York. 

fThe first Ruscou (John) came over, in 1635, in the ship “Increase,” a fellow- 
passenger with the Marvins. 


50 


devoted to this church, and here his family was brought up. His 
son practiced medicine in Norwalk many years ago, and became 
later a successful physician in Brooklyn, New York. From a vol- 
ume entitled “New York and New England Families,” which was 
published in Albany, New York, in 1883, we quote as follows: 
“Matthew Reed and wife were members of St. Paul’s Episcopal 
Church in Norwalk, of which, at that time, the Rev. Dr. Learning 
was rector. It is to the honor of our ancestors in this parish that, 
although reduced by the destruction of their property, yet they 
rallied in a year’s time and commenced anew for the Master.” 
Matthew Reed’s grave is to the right, not far from the front door 
of this church. James Fillio was elected to the vestry, in 1781, and 
John Saunders, in 1784, and Daniel Church and Samuel Hanford, 
Jr., in 1785; Jacob Selleck was the owner, on Carter street, New 
Canaan, of property near to what is now known as the Hoyt 
Brothers’ nursery, and came from thence hither to church. 

The vestrymen from 1786 to 1886, are Eliakim Warren, Samuel 
Hanford, 2nd., Captain Stephen Betts, Asa Hoyt, Esaias Bouton, 
Joseph Fitch, Samuel Bouton, James Beatty, Holmes Saunders, 
Paul Taylor, Josiah Thatcher, 2nd., Henry Belden, Jonathan 
Camp, 2nd., Samuel Cannon, Nathaniel J. Street, Dennis Nash, 
Isaac Church, Richard Camp, Jr., Ebenezer D. Hoyt, Stephen 
Kellogg, Eseck Kellogg, Lewis Taylor, Isaac Belden, William J. 
Street, LeGrand Cannon, Nathan Jarvis, Isaac Church, David St. 
John, Jr., Noah Nash, William Cornwall, Isaac Adams, Josiah 
Church, Abraham Camp, Jonathan Camp, Jr., Joseph St. John, 
Lemuel Camp, Ebenezer Church, Jr., Richard S. Bryan, Jr., 
Stephen Smith, Stephen B. St. John, John A. McLean, M. D., 
Stephen Mott, Charles Isaacs, William Nash, Joseph W. Hubbell, 
Asa E. Smith, William St. John, William Daskam, Daniel Nash, 
Samuel Church, John Partrick, William May bury, John B. Starr, 
Moses Gregory, Samuel Jarvis, Thomas L. Peck, Gould D. Jennings, 
James Finney, Timothy T. Merwin, Carmi Lockwood, L. L. Beebe, 
Charles N. Clock, William C. Street, William K. James, George 
G. Bishop, L. M. Stevens, James M. Hoyt, Samuel Lynes, John 
Smith, Ira Ford, Thomas Warner, Jr., Allen Betts, David H. Webb, 
Davis Hatch, Winfield S. Hanford, Josiah Kellogg, Lemuel A. 
Austin, Edgar B. Hoyt, Samuel Lynes, M. D. , Samuel E. Olmstead, 
Edward K. Lockwood, Alfred Jackson, James C. Newkirk, Theodore 
E. Smith, Charles F. Osborn, James W. Pinckney, George Ward 
Selleck, Asa Smith. LeGrand Jackson, Homer Merrill, William H. 
Smith, and Daniel C. Nash. A long, but honored roll. 


51 


Previous to 1784 the wardens and vestry appear to have received 
and disbursed the parish revenues. On October 7th, 1784, Nathan 
J arvis was chosen treasurer. The next appointment December 29th, 
1803, was that of Thomas Hoyt. On July 28th, 1817, Ebenezer D. 
Hoyt was elected treasurer, and Henry Belden on January 7tli, 1824. 
Mr. Belden resigned office on Easter Monday, 1827, when Jonathan 
Camp, Jr., was chosen. Mr. Camp filled the office for twenty-six 
years, and w r as followed, on March 28th, 1853, by Charles F. Osborn, 
Esq. Mr. Osborn’s term of office embraced twenty years. He was 
succeeded, in 1873, by the late Samuel E. Olmstead. Mr. Olmstead 
was followed, in 1876, by Charles E. St. John, Esq., and Mr. St. 
J ohn, in 1886, by E. K. Lockwood, Esq. ; men, all, of accuracy and 
ability. 

It has been remarked that the Greeks made such good colonists 
because of the excellent character of those who went out to found 
new provinces and establish new homes. And the early emigrants 
from St. Paul’s were largely of this order. From Huntington, 
one of those pleasant towns which rise a little back of the line 
of silver sand which rims the northern shores of Long Island, 
there came to this parish, during the year of its organization, the 
parents of the future successor of Seabury. Abraham Jarvis, the 
second bishop of Connecticut, was born, about three-fourths of a 
mile from this spot,* in May, 1739. He was prepared for college in 
Stamford, and two years after his graduation sailed for England 
where he was ordained, f He was called to Middletown, and, in 
1797, was elected to the See of Connecticut. He was a true son of 
the church, and his administration of the diocese was able. The 
days were dark and his episcopate a not altogether untroubled one, 
but before his death the prospects of his beloved church had grown 
brighter, and he was permitted to see the bow at life’s decline. He 
died, in 1813, at New Haven, and is buried beneath the chancel of 
Trinity Church, in that city. 

James Brown, Esq., justice-of-the-peace and son of James Brown, 
attomey-at-law, in Norwalk, nearly two centuries ago, and a de- 
scendant, it is probable, of the house of the Browns of Lincoln- 
shire, England, was one of the men among men who went out from 
us carrying his liberality to the church with him. The statement 
is made that a few years before the revolutionary war “he was 

* Across the street from and slightly south-east of the residence of the late 
George A. Raymond, Down Town, property now owned hy Mr. Noah Wood. 

+ In November, 1763, ordained deacon hy the Bishop of Exeter; and priest by 
the Bishop of Carlysle. 




conveying or had already conveyed “four thousand acres of land 
to the church. This land was granted to him, in 1752, by letters 
patent, from George II, king, and lay in the Oblong, so-called, in 
what was termed the undivided lands, on the confines of the col- 
onies of Connecticut and New York, but which, through irregul- 
arity in the transfer, or something of that sort, has been lost to the 
church. * 

Eliakim Warren, who, with his wife Phoebe and their three sons, 
Esaias, Nathan and Stephen, left us in 1798, was another of our old 
representatives. He was elected vestryman on Easter Monday, 
1787, and filled the office until the spring of 1792, and was intrusted 
with the care of the society’s interests in Middlesex, now Darien, 
and went from us, leaving the registry of beneficence behind him, 
to become the first senior warden,! and himself and wife two of the 
first three communicants of one of the grandest parishes in what 
was then the diocese of New York, but is to-day the diocese of 
Albany. Mrs. Eliakim Warren, who, in her girlhood, came to this 
sacred spot from the home just at the head of what is now Wilson 
Cove, commenced, in 1815, in Troy, a Saturday sewing school, 


* In Dr. Dibble’s parochial register, see Bolton’s history, it is thus recorded : 
“1758, May 12th, baptized Obadiah, slave of James Brown, of Salem. Several 
of Mr. Brown’s slaves, viz., Cato, Lucas, Dyer and Tower Hill, now sleep side 
by side on the spot named after the last of these comrades. 

James Brown, according to Bolton, was brother-in-law of Samuel Isaacs, of 
Norwalk, whose sons were Isaac Isaacs and Samuel Brown Isaacs. In the 
family bible of the latter is written : “My dear mother, Mary Isaacs, departed 
this life November 26th, 1801.” 

tUpon marble in St. Paul’s Church, Troy, N. Y., are these inscriptions: 

This Tablet is erected 
by the vestry 
in memory of 
ELIAKIM WARREN, 

Senior Warden of this Church 
from its organization in 1804 
until his death. 

To his great zeal and munificence 
This congregation is indebted, 
under God, 

for its origin and prosperity. 

He died Sept. 4th., 

1 8 2 4, 

aged 77 years 

Mark the perfect man and behold the upright, 
for the end of that man is peace. 


This Tablet is erected 
by the vestry 
in memory of 
PHEBE, 

relict of Eliakim Warren. 

She died Jan. 17th, 

1 8 3 5, 

aged 80 years. 

A mother in Israel 

For twenty years she supported and conducted a 
Saturday Sewing School for the Children of the Poor. 

The Blessings of him that was ready to perish 
came upon her and she caused the widow’s heart to sing for joy. 


53 


6 


which was continued until her decease, twenty years later, and 
then followed up by a daughter-in-law, Mrs. Nathan Warren, one 
of the results of the pious work having been the erection of the 
sanctuary of the Holy Cross, a house of prayer, in Troy, New York, 
for all people, “without money and without price,” and the estab- 
lishment and endowment, in the same city, of a noble beneficence, 
under the corporate name of the Mary Warren Free institute.* 

The Rev. William Jarvis, youngest son of Hezekiah and nephew 
of Bishop Abraham J arvis, was another of the last century’s children 
who removed from St. Paul’s, and whom we name with gratitude 
to-day. Blest with gifts, Mr. Jarvis offered them in the Master’s 
service, and left home at an early age to prepare for his future work. 
He studied in Schenectady, New York, and afterwards in New 
Haven and was ordained to the diaconate, in 1822, in the old St. 
Paul’s, under Dr. Sherwood’s rectorship; in the following year he 
was admitted to the priesthood, and had the care of East Haddam 
and Hebron, in this diocese. He then became rector of Trinity 
Church, Portland, on the Connecticut. Failing health compelled 
his resignation of that parish, and the last years of his life were 
spent at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Elizabeth H. Colt, of 
Hartford. With the exception of during youth, Mr. Jarvis was 
not a resident of Norwalk, but his personal merits and professional 
devotion were not unknown to us. His sisters, Amelia, Levinia, 
Sarah, and Mary, of fond memory, still occupied the old contented 
hearthstone, and a brother’s affection for them often brought him 
hither. He died fourteen years ago, October last. 

Miss Sally St. John, afterward Mrs. Luke Bush, of Greenwich, 
in this state, youngest daughter of William St. John, Sr., was a 
Christian lady, who, attached to the parish and its work in Green- 
wich, was a valued aid of her warm friend and pastor, the Rev. B. 
M. Yarrington. 

LeGrand Cannon, another of our honored sons, left this parish 
and became one of the best known citizens of northern New York. 
He was the only son of Samuel Cannon, and was vestryman, in 

*The Warrens were from Roton Hill. The home stood near where now 
stand the house and grounds which were until recently the property of Horatio 
Bigelow, Esq., of New York. Vestryman Eliakim Warren, grandson of Edmond, 
the settler, was a descendant, through his mother, of the Reeds, of Cornwall, 
England, and the Derbys of the colony of Rhode Island. John Reed settled 
first in Providence, where (see Talcott) he married a Miss Derby. They came 
to Norwalk about 1684, and their son Thomas married Mary Olmstead. Thomas 
and Mary Reel’s son, John, had a daughter, Ann, who was the mother of Elia- 
kim Warren of St. Paul’s. See further, notes, page one hundred, and para- 
graph, page one hundred and twenty-six. The older Warren family names 
were Edmond, Edmond, Jr., Nathan, John, Jacob, Mary, and Hannah. Ed- 
mond and Elizabeth (who was daughter of Sergeant John Bouton, and a de- 
scendant therefore of Matthew and Elizabeth Marvin), were the parents. 


54 


1818. His sisters, Mrs. Hugh Knox and Mrs. Moses Craft, were 
daughters of St. Paul’s. They removed from Norwalk, and Mrs. 
Knox* died not many years afterward; Mrs. Craft+ lived to a good 
age. Both sisters are remembered in Norwalk. 

Nathan and Stephen Bouton, (sons of Esaias) went to Troy, New 
York, where they became leading business men and churchmen. 
Nathan was warden of St. Paul’s church in that city, and lived to 
the age of eighty -one. His son-in-law, Nathan Warren, Esq., who 
was twenty-one years old at the time of the family’s removal from 
Connecticut, died four years before his father Bouton , at the age 
of fifty -seven. It was his desire, in 1834, to once more breathe 
his native air. A steam vessel brought him down the Hudson and 
through the Sound to “Old Well,” where the boat was moored a 
sufficient time to allow a portion of the party | to visit this part of 
the town, and take a brief look at the place. Mr. Warren died in 
August that year. These were some of St. Paul’s children who re- 
membered the Christian birth-spot, and who, wherever they went, 
kept the altar-fire to mother church ever burning. 

There were a number who came, in former times, some in the 
primitive gig, some in the family square box, some with horse un- 
der the saddle and prayer book under the arm, and some on foot, 
but all from a distance, to church. Among them Jonathan and 
Mrs. Abbott, § from, so the old people used to say, the greatest 
distance away, from near the state line ; and the Sterlings, || father 
and mother, from what is at this day called Cannon’s Station; and 
the Fitches from Wilton, and the Hanford’s from New Canaan; and 
the Boutons, Esaias, from Belden’s Neck, and Samuel and his 


* The Knox House stood upon the Green, and is now the inviting homestead 
of George R. Cowles, Esq. 

Mr. Hugh Knox died, in 1858, and left one son, the late John LeGrand Knox, 
who married Miss Elizabeth Sigourney, of Hartford. Mrs. John LeGrand Knox 
visited Norwalk several times after her husband’s death, and down to her own 
lamented decease, in 1885. 

t But one of Mrs. Craft’s children (Mrs. Hannibal Green) survives. Mr. Green 
was one of the foremost business men of Troy. He was founder of one of the 
heaviest hardware establishments north of the city of New York, and built 
the Hannibal Green steel and iron warehouse, Broadway, Troy. He was 
from Vermont. He died several years ago, and his widow (who was born in 
one of the Norwalk ancestral dwellings about which still linger the ancient 
celebrity-look) resides in First street, Troy. 

t The late LeGrand Cannon, and Captain Hall Fitch. 

§ Jonathan Abbott was a strong churchman. His house still stands, about 
a half mile above Smith Ridge, New Canaan. His son Charles has been sup- 
erintendent of public instruction, in Brooklyn, New York. Jonathan Abbott’s 
nephew, Jonathan Beers, was a churchman of like type. His son, bent upon 
witnessing a confirmation service, left home alone, and on foot, and albeit 
twenty miles must be trudged ere he reached and returned from Norwalk, 
yet he accomplished it. The persevering lad became the greatly respected 
Alfred Beers, Esq. of Housatonic Railroad connection, and senior warden of 
one of Bridgeport’s flourishing parishes. He died last spring. 

II The grandparents of Mrs. Albert Hyatt. 


55 


daughters, Mrs. Ira Ford and Miss Mary Ann Bouton from Flax 
Hill,* and Paul Taylorf from near White Oak Shade; and the 
Reeds from West Norwalk; and also the Streets, (parents of Edward 
Street, the first organist of the parish) ; and Daniel, and Dennis, £ 
and Noah Nash from Westport; and Noah’s children, the gentle one 
who died some years since, Mrs. William Cornwall; and the active 
other one, Miss Sally Nash, who lingered until last Lent; and the 
third sister, Mrs. Lemuel Camp, who still survives, the tender 
charge of her daughter; and the youngest, William, a former ves- 
tryman, but who now resides in Stratford; these from just above 
the old pike gate, this side Saugatuck;§ and Richard Camp, Jr., 


* The Boutons are buried in the plot on the hill, some little distance north 
of Belden’s Point. The inscriptions on their tomb stones read thus : 

ESAIAS BOUTON, 
died May 28th, 

18 2 1 , 

aged 90 years and 6 months. 


PHEBE, 

wife of Esaias Bouton, 
died March 15th, 

18 10 , 

in the 76th year of her age. 


SAMUEL BOUTON, 
born July 14th, 

1 7 6 3, 

died April 4th, 

1 8 3 3. 


EUNICE, 

wife of Samuel Bouton, 
died August 3d, 

18 18 , 

aged 50 years, 8 months and 1£ days. 

tThe uncle of the venerable Alfred Taylor, who resided in his “care-free 
sunset days” in Poplar Plains, until Tuesday, March 22d, 1887, when he died. 

tSix generations of his family (Charles Adams’ family is the sixth) have 
been members of St. Paul’s church and parish. Mr. Adams followed Bishop 
Kemper to the west, and was one of the original settlers, in 1836, of the city of 
Chicago. He has in his possession several rectory chairs — Dr. Learning’s, of 
1779. 

§ “Call it Saugatuck,” said Dr. Kemper, who, apparently had no prejudice 
against the red man’s expressive designation. The first occupants of Nor- 
walk were Indians, and when the town was settled there appear to have 
been not two tribes, but two clans, who had possession of the place. One clan 
occupied the territory on the east side of the river, and the other that on the 
west side, and along this latter side ran the ancient “Ponassus path named 
after Ponus, Sagamore of the Rippowams. This sachem’s realm embraced 
from the sparkling waters of Rowalton (Five Mile River) on the west towards 
the Pequonnocke Indians, “Gold Hill,” land on the east, and as far north as 
the Mohawk forests. Our fathers of 1686 paid the old Indian patriarch the 
compliment of naming one of their walks for him, but later “plains and 
places” have fared worse. 

The story of Naramake (Indian south-western Norwalk), antedates that of 
the Europeans’ occupancy of the same territory. It may be impossible to in- 
fallibly determine concerning our pre-historic predecessors, but the evidence 
is abundant that stray representatives of the five nations were in possession 
of the place anterior to the arrival of the white settlers; and a rational in- 
ference is, that the red rangers were attracted to the locality by the natural 
beauty of the spot. They seem to have had a strong relish for the romantic, 
and to have loved the outer world, the green grass, the fresh air, and the sun- 
and-moon-light, with remarkable ardor and our brakes and books, our fields 


56 


from Winnipauk, and Isaac and Abraham Camp, from Silver Mine; 

and Asa Hoyt, lieutenant of the old guard from below Old Well, f 

and forests, our inlets and islands, our rivulets and rocks, the cove, the cliff, 
the glen, and “fruitful spring,” unquestionably wooed them; and although 
the thunder-burst over “Canoe Hill” might have terrorized them, still the 
sleeping deep beyond “Mamachimons” beach was calculated to tranquilize 
them. They ranged our woods and paddled upon our waters, and turned our 
huge boulders into grain-grinding mortars ; while it has been shown that there 
were among them some who were skillful, and many, perhaps the majority, 
who were disposed to be peaceful.* Let the day be tardy in arriving, when, by 
dropping the already too few aboriginal names bequeathed us — Winnepauke, 
Rhoton, Cachenoes and Mahackem, we ignobly discard all recognition of these 
primal lords of the soil, and thereby deaden a deserved memory of the past, 
as well as destroy a veritable touch of the antique, which last, is not the least of 
the charms which conjure this old plantation, namesake, in the days of 
Pemenate,t of the pensive-countenanced, conquered chieftain Naramake. 

* There exists cause for believing, that with some exceptions, 
the Norwalk Indians were, as a class, singularly amiable. 

tPemenate was one of Naramake’s partners at the time of the 
“Partrick purchase.” 


tThe following interesting schedule is here presented. It is true that “deeds, 
not names, are what tell;” but names in this instance have a voice. Just 
three of the accompanying roll of sixty-five, remain, after the lapse of forty- 
seven years, as pew holders in St. Paul’s Church to-day. It was the last rental 
of pews in the church of 1779, previous to its removal to make room for the 
erection of the new church. 


SALE 

Pew No. 
Pew No. 
Pew No. 
Pew No. 
Pew No. 
Pew No. 
Pew No. 
Pew No. 
Pew No. 
Pew No. 
Pew No. 
Pew No. 
Pew No.. 
Pew No. 
Pew No. 
Pew No. 
Pew No. 
Pew No 
Pew No. 
Pew No. 
Pew No. 
Pew No. 
Pew No. 
Pew No. 
Pew No. 
Pew No. 
Pew No. 
Pew No. 
Pew No. 
Pew No. 
Pew No. 
Pew No. 
Pew No. 
Pew No. 
Pew No. 
Pew No. 


OF PEWS AT ST. PAUL’S CHURCH, APRIL, ad,, 1839, 

TERMS SIXTY DAYS. 


1 , 


Bates. 


2, Dr. McLean. 

3, MRS. Maybury. 

4, William Daskam. 

5, J. B. Starr. 

6 , 

7, William St. John. 

8, Lewis O. Wilson. 

9, Ira Ford. 

10, Stephen Mott. 

11, Wm. A. Barlow. 

12, Moses Gregory. 

13, William St. John. 

14, Benjamin Isaacs. 

15, Wm. J. Street. 

16, abby Hoyt, 

17, Maltby Betts. 

18, James Finney. 

19, Mr. Cornwall. 

20, s a rah Jarvis. 

21, MR. Cornwall. 

22, Charlotte St. John. 

23, William Mallory. 

24, Mr. Sherry. 

25, Esther Belden. 

26, MR. HUBBELL. 

27, Samuel Daskam. 

28, william K. James. 

29, Abel Beebe. 

30, Marvin Raymond. 

31, Banks Smith. 

32, Munson Hoyt. 

33, Mrs Barnitm. 

34, Gould D. Jennings. 

35, Lewis Taylor. 

36, 


\ 


Pew No. 37, 

Pew No. 38, Munson Hoyt. 

Pew No, 39, 

Pew No. 40, Abraham Camp. 

Pew No. 41, Mr. Bennett. 

Pew No. 42, Henry Bennett. 

Pew No. 43, wm. Daskam. 

Pew No. 44, Richard Camp. 

Pew No. 45, TALMADGE STEVENS. 
Pew No. 46, 

Pew No. 47, William K. James. 
Pew No. 48, A. W. STREET. 

Pew No. 49, Charles N. Clock. 
Pew No. 5o, George Hoyt. 

Pew No. 51, Mr. Mills 
P ew No. 52, Henry Parsons. 

Pew No. 53, John Partrick. 

Pew No. 54, Jonathan Camp. 

Pew No. 55, Eseck Kellogg. 

Pew No. 56, Richard Pennoyer. 
Pew No. 57, 

Pew No. 58, James Scribner. 
Pew No. 59, 

Pew No. 60, Israel Lockwood. 
Pew No. 61, Edwin Lockwood. 
Pew No. 62, Chas. VanDuzer, 
Pew No. 63, Frederick Jarvis. 
Pew No. 64, H. W. Smith. 

Pew No. 65, James Stevens. 

Pew No. 66, Charles Stevens. 
Pew No. 67, laavrence Stevens. 
Pew No. 68, Mr Elwood. 

Pew No. 69, Lawrence Stevens. 
Pew No. 70, Mr. Grumman. 

Pew No. 71, N. Jarvis. 

Pew No. 72, Samuel Street. 


Some of these, as may be seen, took two pews each, and three of them, viz : 
James Finney, Charles N. Clock, (vestryman forty-two years ago,) and Israel 
Lockwood, are occupants of pews in St. Paul’s to-day. Mr. Finney was grand- 
son of Isaac Camp; Mr. Clock came from Darien; and Mr. Lockwood from 
Greenwich. The former was active in Dr. Kemper’s day. 


These, with others who have been named, and several who have 
not perchance been named, helped make up the congregation which 
the observance to-day calls up. 


The names of such as took two pews each, as referred to in foot note on the 
opposite page, are: William Daskam, William St.John, Mr. Cornwall, and 
Lawrence Stevens. 

W’illiam Daskam was brother of Samuel, of Norwalk, and James, of Stam- 
ford. He married Ruah, daughter of David Boult, and built in Main street, 
near the south corner of the present Hoyt street, and but a short distance above 
the old Lockwood house, which stood in, and took up quite a portion of what is 
now the roadway. The stores at that time, on the west side of the street, 
extended, towards the north, about as far as the store of Messrs G. & S. H. 
Holmes, between which point and the Daskam residence was the dwelling of 
the widow Jabez Gregory, which, being at “The Bridge,’’ and near “The 
Spring,” and on “the principal street,” was one of the best known places in 
Norwalk. The house, in shape and size, was somewhat like the Isaacs house 
and it was occupied by “grandmother Gregory” until she had rounded out a 
century of years. Two of William Daskam’s children survive: Mrs. Judge 
Sidney B. Beardsley, of Bridgeport, and Miss Harriett F., of Norwalk. 

William St. John, of Pews Nos. 7 and 13, was son of William, Sr., and Mary 
Esther (Belden) St. John. The belief which has obtained in Norwalk is, that 
three Sensions (St. Johns) came at first to this land. One of this country’s 
genealogists appears to disclaim this, affirming, “I have read too many 
records to tolerate” the belief, nevertheless, there was evidently a father 
and son (Matthias, Sr. and Jr.), in Norwalk, in 1655, and Dr. Hall, in his 
valuable compilation from the ancient records, mentions the name of 
Matthew, also, while it seems that there was a St. John in Dorchester, 
in 1634. William, of St. Paul’s Church, married Esther, daughter of James 
and Rebecca (Goold) Cannon. His house was a fine old style structure, and 
stood at the lower end of High street. Other than Esther (Mrs. William 
St. John), James Cannon’s children were Sarah (Mrs. Jonathan Fitch), 
Amelia (Mrs. Garrett Harson Newkirk) and Mary (Mrs. George Lockwood). The 
children of Mrs. Jonathan Fitch were Mrs. Stephen Raymond, and Mrs. 
James Mallory ; and the children of Garrett H. Newkirk were Mrs. Jonathan 
Camp, Mrs. Reuben A. Williams, Margaret Bennett, Mrs. Adelaide Quigley, 
and the late James Newkirk ; and the children of Mrs. George Lockwood were 
Sarah, Mary, and James, who is one of the solid men (financially), of Ohio; 
and the children of Mrs. William St. John were Mrs. Munson Hoyt, Mrs. 
Charles Sherry, Mrs. Francis Skiddy, Mrs. J. A. VanZandt, and William and 
Frederick St. John. 

Mrs. Charlotte St. John, of Pew 22, was the second wife of Stephen Buck- 
ingham St. John, brother of William, of Pew 7. Stephen B. St. John’s first wife 
was a daughter of John Cannon. His second wife, Charlotte (Bush) St. 
John, was the mother of Mrs. James A. Hoyt, who has succeeded to the owner- 
ship of the historic Grumman’s Hill property. 

Mr. Cornwall was another who rented two pews. Thomas, the father of 
William Cornwall, came from Middletown. His wife was a Miss Mary Beers, 
from Stratford. They lived near Mr. Thomas Benedict, Down Town, and had 
four sons, William, Grove, Josiali, and George. Grove and George took up 
their homes in Milford, and Josiah and William resided in Norwalk. Josiah 
married in this town, but died in earlier life. 

William married Lucinda, daughter of Noah Nash, of Westport, and his 
children were Lorinda (Mrs. John B. Hunter), Mary Ann (Mrs. Samuel Gor- 
ham), Esther (Mrs. Eli K. Street), Eliza (Mrs. William D. Haight), Catharine 
(Mrs. Charles S. Lockwood), Sarah (Mrs. Charles C. Brooks). Thomas, William, 
John, Robert, and Louisa (Mrs. George F. Belden). Mrs. William Cornwall’s 
uncle and aunt, Luke and Jemima Keeler, of Norwalk, removed, probably 
in the “Prairie Schooner” (a large traveling vehicle), to the West, and were 
among the founders of St. Paul’s parish, in Norwalk, Ohio. The Cornwalls 
adhered to their church, and of William, at his death, Dr. Kemper said : “He 
was to me a brother, a counsellor, and a helper.” His services as lay reader 
and chorister, were of no trifling importance to the parish ; and albeit he has 
gone, and his old choir has disappeared, and other choirs have been formed, 
to be in their turn displaced, yet such ministrations are not lost forever. The 
blessings, which those who lead in our praises bequeath, are abiding. 

Lawrence Stevens was the last of the four, who in 1839, took two pews each. 
He was son of Ebenezer Stevens by his first wife. Before coming to Norwalk, 
Ebenezer Stevens resided in Bethel. His first wife was Miss Chloe Fairchild, 


58 


It is to the credit of the men in this parish, in the beginning of 
the nineteenth century, that they so promptly took up the challenge 


of New Fairfield, Connecticut. Himself and boys, (Lawrence M. and Talmadge) 
and one daughter, Harriet, came to Norwalk, and he here married Susan, 
the daughter of .Richard Camp, Sr. The children of this marriage were Mary, 
Emily (Mrs. Ebenzer Ayres, of New Canaan), and Augusta (Mrs. Alexander 
Grey, of Madison, Wisconsin.) Lawrence M. Stevens married Catharine, 
daughter of Stephen St. John, of Norwalk. He died over thirty years ago, and 
left a donation to St. Paul’s church. Talmadge, the brother of Lawrence, 
married, first, Louisa Humphreys, and for his second wife, Rebecca Bigelow. 
The two Mrs. Talmadge Stevens were cousins, and both were from Concord, 
Michigan. The children of Talmadge are Mary (Mrs. Charles Tucker), Sarah 
Louise (Mrs. Thomas Moores), and Josephine. 

Others of the pew list of 1839 not before alluded to are Walter Bates, of Darien ; 
Mrs. Maybury, (mother of Grace, Lucy and Mary, and of Charles, who married 
Harriet, daughter of Stephen Smith, whose office it often was to preside at 
parish meetings); John B. Starr, an educator of Norwalk, who was efficient 
in St. Paul’s parish and in its Sunday school ; Ira Ford, of Flax Hill ; Abby Hoyt 
(Mrs. Walter Hoyt, a daughter of Samuel Bouton, and whose son Walter married 
a daughter of Mr. Charles F. Raymond); Maltby Betts, (son of Hon. Thad- 
deus Betts, and brother of Charles C. and Frederick T.) ; William Mallory, (son 
of John Mallory), who married a member of St. Paul’s, and granddaughter of 
Samuel M. Fitch; Abel Beebe, (father of Linus L. Beebe, a former vestryman). 
Banks Smith, whose children and grandchildren belong to St. Paul’s; Mrs. 
Barnum (Mrs. Henrietta Barnum). Her father (Samuel Collins), was of noble 
family, and a cousin of Sir Garnet Wolseley. Her sister was the late Mrs. 
Dorinda Lockwood, and her brother Samuel was father of Mrs. Dr. Wakeman, 
and of Mrs. Mary Read, of Redding, Connecticut. Mrs. Barnum taught in the 
old church academy and elsewhere, and some of the present communicants 
of St. Paul’s were her pupils. Lord Wolseley, after his return to England from 
his military campaign in the east, gave courteous evidence of his regard for 
his Norwalk and Redding cousins. The town of Redding — anciently Reading 
— took its name from the family of Mrs. Read’s husband. The “Goodale sis- 
ters,” authoresses and poetesses, who, some years since, wrote from “Skye- 
farm,” and who drew their inspiration so largely from nature, are neices of 
Mr. and Mrs. Read. Elaine, one of the sisters, was a recent contributor, to 
the Churchman, of an article upon the Indian Question, she being, at the 
present time, an active ally, under the direction of a western bishop, of the 
Indian Commission. 

Lewis Taylor, of Pew No. 35, was son of Paul Taylor, and uncle of Alfred 
Taylor, of Poplar Plains. He was brother to the grandmother of Mrs. Charles 
T. Leonard, and of a family of established church repute. 

Mr. Bennett (John F.) and Henry Bennett, of Pews Nos. 41 and 42, were 
both of the old Norwalk families. 

A. W. Street (Alonzo Warren Street), was from West Norwalk. 

George Hoyt, of Pew No. 50, was a communicant of, and a constant attend- 
ant at St. Paul’s. He married Miss Lucy Allen, of Westport, and was father 
of Ann Eliza, Catharine (Mrs. Hart Denton), and Jane M. (Mrs. James W. 
Hyatt,) and Edwin and Gould. 

Mr. Mills (Stephen F. Mills), of Pew No. 51, resided in South Norwalk. Mr. 
Mills was from Flushing, L. I., and his wife was a daughter of Captain Curtis 
Peck, Sr., and sister of Captains Curtis Peck, Jr., Galatian Peck, and William 
Henry Peck. Captain Curtis Peck, Jr., who resided for some time on the 
Timothy T. Merwin place, commanded the Norwalk and New York steamer 
CATALINE, which was named after his wife, who was Miss Catalina Meserole, 
of Brooklyn. Thomas L. Peck, vestryman of St. Paul’s, was son of Jonathan 
Peck (son of Jonathan Richard), and his children were Mary, wife of the Rev. 
Joshua Kimber ; Thomas L., Jr., who married Anna, daughter of the late Asa E. 
Smith; and Anna, deceased. Stephen F. Mills’ children were Henrietta, who 
is buried in St. Paul’s yard, and Mary. Parish clerk Charles T. Leonard is 
cousin to Thomas L. Peck, Sr. Jonathan, the father of Thomas L. Peck, Sr., 
had four brothers, viz. ; Curtis, Sr., Elijah, Charles, and William, two of 
whom, Jonathan and Elijah, married sisters of Mr. C. T. Leonard’s mother, 
who was a Cornell. 

Henry Parsons, of Pew No. 52, was a young man, known in Norwalk society. 

John Partrick, of Pew No. 53, and brother of Lewis, was from the north- 
eastern portion of the parish. 


59 


which then- predecessors, at the close of the century before, had 
thrown down. The subscription paper of 1792 was followed, a few 


Richard Pennoyer, of Pew No. 56, was from Westport, and married a sister 
of Charles Adams. 

The name of James H. Scribner, of Pew No. 58, recalls the fact that upon 
the roll of the last century members of St. Paul’s, occurs mention of Uriah 
Scribner. The first (Skribner in 1680, but Scribner thereafter) was Benjamin. 
He married a soldier’s daughter, in 1678-80, and had four sons, one of whom 
appears to have been the grandparent of Uriah Roger Scribner, son of Dr. 
Uriah Rogers, Sr’s daughter Abigail, who married a Scribner. Said son 
was born in 1779, and if he be the Uriah Scribner of St. Paul’s, he was later 
the New York city merchant of that name. James H. Scribner, of 1839, was a 
descendant, it is probable, of one of the four brothers (Thomas, John, Abra- 
ham, and Matthew), sons of the original Benjamin and Hannah (Crampton) 
Scribner. 

Edwin Lockwood, of Pew No. 61, son of Ebenezer, and father of the present 
Charles, owned the house and grounds upon “the Green” which are now the 
property of Morgan T. Smith. 

Charles VanDuzer, of Pew No. 62, was son of Mrs. Nancy VanDuzer, after- 
ward Mrs. Lewis Bennett. Mrs. VanDuzer’s children were Charles, Whitlock, 
Mary (Mrs. Isaac V. Brower, of New Jersey; Mr. I. V. Brower is a cousin of 
Mr. Charles DeHart Brower, who married Miss Mary H. Bailey, of Norwalk); 
and Ann Eliza (Mrs. Eli S. Quintard, of New Haven). Mrs. Bennett had but 
one child. Miss Nancy Elizabeth Bennett, afterward Mrs. Jonathan R. Peck, 
and now Mrs. David Demarest. 

James Stevens, of Pew No. 65, was from Hartland, Connecticut. He married 
Miss Fanny Whitlock, and was an officer of high rank and reputation in the 
Masonic body. He was associated in business in New Canaan, with Ebenezer 
Ayres, and was subsequently proprietor of “Whitlock’s”, afterwards the 
“Connecticut Hotel.” His children were Georgianna, (Mrs. Henry Bailey), 
Mary (the late Mrs. Eli S. Quintard), and Susan J. (Mrs. Frederick T. Betts). 

Charles Stevens, of Pew No. 66, does not appear to have been of either James 
or Lawrence M. Stevens’ families. 

Mr. Elwood, of Pew No. 68, may possibly have been of the Elwood family, 
whose home was in upper France street. 

Mr. Grumman, of Pew No. 70, was Samuel Edwin, son of Samuel and Maria 
(Cholwell) Grumman. The Grummans were frem Fairfield, and the Cholwells 
from the east side of the upper Hudson portion of the state of New York. 

In the days of the old church there were several Norwalk young men who 
took pews together. 

Noah Nash, of Westport, had a daughter whose name is unmentioned in 
the address; viz. Anna (Mrs. Darrow). 

Lieutenant Asa Hoyt’s daughter Esther married Captain Moses Gregory, 
vestryman, and Mr. Hoyt’s sister Eunice married Noah Smith, of Norwalk 
Island; the ancestor of which Smith (Kilyard) emigrated, with nine child- 
ren, from Devon County, in south-western England. He located, on the east 
bank of the Connecticut river, below Middletown. One of his sons, Eiiakim, 
came to Norwalk, and, with Abigail, his wife, occupied a dwelling which stood 
opposite to the residence of Mrs. Eben Hill, in South Norwalk. Noah, of 
Smith’s (Norwalk) Island, was a son of Eiiakim and Abigail. Noah’s son Asa, 
was the father of Stephen, Asa E., Henry W. and George E. Smith, of Norwalk ; 
Rufus, of Texas; Ward, of Brooklyn; Sidney, of California, and Eliza Jane 
(Mrs. George St. John), of Wisconsin. 

Mr. Morgan T. Smith, of St. Paul’s, is not of the aforesaid family. His 
mother, Anna, was sister of Mr. Jess Smith, of Westchester County, New York, 
and Morgan T. is cousin of Jess Smith 2d., formerly of Winnipauk. Mrs. 
Morgan T. Smith was Clarissa Crane, a daughter of Thaddeus Crane, Sr., of 
Somers, New York, and a neice of the late John D. Lounsbury, who planted an 
industry in this town, the developments of which have in all probability far 
exceeded the most sanguine expectations of this benefactor of the place. 

One communicant of St. Paul’s whose name does not appear on the list as 
a pew proprietor, but who has been a faithful Christian woman, remains to 
be mentioned here. We refer to the aged Mrs. Thomas Mitchell, of Ely’s Neck. 
She is an English woman who, nearly forty years ago, came with her husband 
to this country. He was doomed to early death, but she, solitary in her retired 
cottage, has never parted with her faith. She spent a portion of her early life 
at Fulham, the residence of the Bishop of London, knew Hannah More, and 


60 


years later, by another, which had for its object the building of a 
new glebe house, or parsonage. On February 4th, 1806, Josiah 


was brought in contact with those whose influence over her has been helpful 
and happy. Until Trinity Chapel, South Norwalk, was built, she was a regular 
attendant at St. Paul’s. Through summer and winter she walked, neatly 
attired, and with prayer book wrapped in kerchief in hand, from her distant 
home to the parish church. She has now arrived at the age of eighty-five, and 
is not seen at service as often as of yore. She is alone in this land, as far as 
relatives are concerned ; her husband lies in the church yard, and her son, 
whom she has not seen for about a half century, lives in Australia. 

The curious will be pleased, perhaps, to find as supplemental to the schedule 
on page 56, what purports to be the first pew schedule of the church of 1786. 
It bears date 1792, but it must be borne in mind that the church of 1786 was not 
completed at the time of its consecration, and was not permanently seated 
until after the passage, in October, 1790, of the resolution, “that the inside of 
the church should be finished by building a pulpit, pewing, and finishing the 
galleries, etc.” 

Pew No. l, LeGrand Cannon. 

Pew No. 2, Thomas Belden. 

Pew No. 3, Goold Hoyt, 

Pew No. 4, Ebenezer Church. 

Pew No. 5, Jonathan Camp.* 

Pew No. 6, Isaac S. Isaacs. 

Pew No. 7, John Saunders, and 

Holmes Saunders in 1799 
Pew No. 8, John Belden. 

Pew No. 9, Isaac Camp. 

Pew No. 10, Daniel Nash. 

Pew No. 11, Samuel White. 

Pew No. 12, John Platt. 

Pew No. 13, Asa Hoyt. 

Pew No. 14, Stephen Betts. 

Pew No. 15, Richard Camp. 

Pew No. 16, Reuben Mott.I [p. 61] 

Pew No. 17, Barnabas Marvin. 

Pew No. 18, Matthew Reed. 

Pew No. 19, Nehemtah Hanford. 

Pew No. 20, Esaias Bouton. 

Pew No. 21, Peter White. 

Pew No. 22, Nathan Jarvis. 

Pew No. 23, Lemuel Brooks. 

Pew No. 24, Paul Taylor. 

Pew No. 25, Nathaniel Street. 

Pew No. 26, John Cannon, Jr., after- 
wards Eliakim warren. 

Pew No. 27, David Boult. 

Pew No. 28, 

Pew No. 29, HEZEKIAH JARVIS. 

Pew No. 30, Isaac Hoyt. 

Pew No. 31, Hezekiah Belden. 

These pews were sold , and the names, affixed to the numbers of the same, 
were the names of their owners. 

Thomas Keeler, also, seems to be assigned to pew No. 50, and Abraham 
Hanford and son, to pew 43. 

*The name of Jonathan Camp is one of the first names which 
appear upon St. Paul’s parish records. It is believed that the 
family took its rise in France, and that three Brothers first came 
to this country, and settled, two in Connecticut (Milford and Nor- 
walk,) and one in New Jersey. Jonathan, the founder of the Nor- 
walk family, came hither from Milford, and purchased at once in 
Norwalk to the amount of nearly three thousand dollars, a large 
sum at that time. Himself and Ann, the forefather and mother, 
had four sons, viz. : Jonathan, Jr., Isaac, Abraham, and Richard. 
Jonathan, 2d, or Jr., was born in 1735, and married Mary Burwell, 
in 1759. From him descended Jonathan, 3d, born in 1768, and 
married, in 1792, to Hannah Boukm. Jonathan, 3d and Hannah 
were the parents of Jonathan, 4th — the late Jonathan — who was 
born in 1801, and who married Miss Mary Newkirk, a granddaugh- 


Pew No. 32, Samuel Belden. 

Pew No. 33, MICAJAH NASH. 

Pew No. 34, JACOB JENNINGS. 

Pew No. 35. Joshua Bouton. 

Pew No. 36, STEPHEN MARVIN. 

Pew No. 37, James Kellogg to David 
Lambert. 

Pew No. 38, Benja. Isaacs. 

Pew No. 39, Stephen Kellogg t [p. 61] 
Pew No. 40, Seth Keeler. 

Pew No. 41, David Lambert (gave it 
up.) 

Pew No. 42, Edward Wentworth. 
Pew No. 43, Samuel Raymond and 
Mrs. Nash. 

Pew No. 44, AARON ADAMS. 

Pew No. 45, Obadiah Wright. 

Pew No. 46, Eliakim Warren. 

Pew No. 47, John Lockwood. § [p. 62] 
Pew No. 48, John Nash. 

Pew No. 49, Peter James. 

Pew No. 50, Daniel Adams. 

Pew No. 51, James Crowley. 

Pew No. 52, William Jelliff. 

Pew No. 53, John Saunders, Jr. 

Pew No. 54, Seeley Squires. 

Pew No. 55, AARON KEELER. 

Pew No. 56, 

Pew No. 57, HANFORD FAIRWEATHER. 
Pew No. 58, Josiah Thatcher, Jr. 
Pew No. 59. Stephen Abbott. 

Pew No. 60, Nathan Wilson. 


61 


Thatcher, 2d, was appointed to take charge of such a paper, and 
that he was successful in his endeavors is evidenced from the action 


ter of James Cannon. Jonathan, 5th, was educated at the Rensse- 
laer Polytechnic Institute, and practiced civil engineering in New 
Jersey. He died in 1882, and left a son Jonathan, the sixth in the 
line. 

Isaac, son of Jonathan, 1st, and Ann, mai’ried, in 1769, Rhoda 
Keeler. Their youngest child was Abraham, who was born in 
1787, and who married a sister of the late David St.. John, senior 
warden of St. Paul’s. 

Abraham, another son of Jonathan, 1st, and Ann, married a Miss 
Jarvis, of Long Island. They had one son Samuel Jarvis Camp, 
the former choister of St. Paul’s. 

Richard, the remaining son of Jonathan, 1st, and Ann. married a 
niece of Rev. Dr. Learning, from whom descended Richard Camp, 
(who married a Perry,) and Lemuel, whose widow yet survives. 

It would appear, from an old record, that Jonathan, 1st, married 
a second time; but the afore mentioned children are those of the 
first wife. 

Stephen Camp, son of Jonathan, 3d, and Hannah, was the father 
of the late Mrs. John Partrick, and of the first Mrs. Henry W. 
Smith. 

Esther Camp, the second daughter of Jonathan, 2d., and aunt of 
the late Jonathan, married James Fitch, grandson, it is probable, 
of James, the brother of Thomas (governor) and Samuel. 

tThe first New England Motts were from Wethersfield. Mark, 
the original Mott, son of the Rev. Mark Mott, of Chelmsford, Eng- 
land, (who was cousin of Rev. Dr. Mark Mott, Rector of Rayne, and 
of large estate in England,) married Barbara, daughter of Thomas 
Ady, M. D., of Wethersfield. Mark Mott died in Connecticut, in 
1694, and left eight children. The Motts (New England Motts,) 
were from the same county and same town, in England, that sev- 
eral of the Norwalk fathers were from, and from the same hamlet 
whence the principal planter of this town emigrated. 

JStephen Kellogg, of Pew No. 39, was about three generations 
from Daniel Kellogg, the settler. Nathaniel Kellock, and Joseph 
Kelodg are named in the colonial records as far back as 1649 and 
1654. Daniel, forefather, lived in East Norwalk, where James L. 
Ambler, of modern date, built, and William G. Thomas has now 
purchased, and he owned the tract which extended from the coast 
bank on the north, as far south as the present street which runs 
parallel to, and is a few rods north of, the New Haven railroad, 
and as far west as the tract which Selectman Joseph P. Hanford 
(father of Captain Joseph P. Hanford), and his heirs since his day, 
have for nearly seventy years had the use of. The Kellogg ances- 
tress was daughter of John Bouton, and granddaughter of Matthew 
Marvin, Sr., and Elizabeth; Daniel, the first, having selected his 
wife from the Bouton family whose home lot lay on the other side 
of the street, directly opposite his own. 

Daniel Kellogg left two sons, Daniel and Samuel, from whom the 
old Norwalk Kelloggs trace their pedigree. Stephen, of St. Paul’s, 
married, in 1778, into a family of direct descent from the foremother 
of 1665. His wife was the third child of Esaias Bouton, of Belden 
Inlet, and sister, consequently, of Nathan and Stephen Bouton, 
and of Mrs. Eliakim Warren, of Troy, and of Mrs. Jonathan Camp, 
3d., of Norwalk. He went to Troy, and his son Josiah was in busi- 
ness there when the two brothers, Ebenezer and Samuel Wilson, 
crossed the Green Mountains, on foot, in the winter, to establish 
themselves there, and when Richard Grinnell, Robert McClellan, 
and Isaac Rogers were business cotemporaries. Stephen Kellogg’s 
son, Eseck, remained in Norwalk, and married a daughter of Jacob 
Osborn. Mr. Osborn was from Salem, Westchester County, New 
York, and married Miss Betsey Jarvis, of Norwalk. He had six 
sons and two daughters. His fourth son, Charles, married for his 
flrst wife Huldah, daughter of Noah Jarvis. Charles and Huldah 
had six children, two of whom survive, viz. : Mrs. Charles H. Jen- 
nings, of Ridgefield, and Charles Frederick Osborn, late treasurer 


62 


of an adjourned meeting, thirteen days thereafter, when, with 
Hezekiah Jarvis in the chair, a vote was taken to build a house “of 


of St. Paul’s. Mr. Charles Osborn’s second wife was Miss Mary 
Atin White. There were several children by the second marriage. 

Jacob Osborn’s two daughters were Maria and Eliza Ann. Maria 
married Eseck, son of Stephen and father of vestryman Josiah 
Kellogg, and his sisters, Mrs. Barlow and the two Mrs. Wheelers, 
of Saratoga County, New York, and of the former Mrs. Charles F. 
Osborn, and of Mrs. Horace Fitch, of New Haven. Eliza Ann Osborn 
married Jacob Dauchy, of Ridgefield, a clerk, many years ago, of 
Captain William Jarvis Street, of Norwalk. Stephen Kellogg’s 
cousin’s (Epenetus Kellogg, )daugh ter Anna, married Daniel James, 
and Daniel and Ann (Kellogg) James were the parents of the late 
William K. James, and of his sisters, Sally and Mary Esther, the 
latter of whom married Samuel Hubbell, of Wilton. 

tHeld until September, 1815, when it was sold, with reservation 
of Mrs. Lockwood’s right to sit in it “whenever she is able to at- 
tend church.’’ 

There were at least two men of unquestioned genius, in early days, in St. 
Paul’s parish. Jacob Osborn, the town and parish clerk, was of singular in- 
ventive capacity; and Edward Nash, oldest brother of Micajah, the choister, 
constructed astronomical tables. His reckonings are said to have been sur- 
prisingly accurate. 

Josiah Thatcher, Jr., of Pew No. 58, married Ann Reed, sister of Mrs. Isaac 
Belden, and mother of Mrs. Uriah Seymour, of South Norwalk, and aunt of the 
late Mrs. Lewis O. Wilson. 


There were thirty-nine persons who did duty in the old Norwalk “Guard” 
during the Revolutionary War, and among them were sixteen of the first pew 
holders of the church of 1786; their names are : 


ISAAC ISAACS - 
John Platt - 
Lieut. Asa Hoyt - 
Capt. Stephen Betts - 
Reuben Mott - 
Matthew Reed - 
Capt. Lemuel Brooks - 
JACOB JENNINGS - 


of pew 6 
of pew 12 
of pew 13 
of pew 14 
of pew 16 
of pew 18 
of pew 23 
of pew 34 


Stephen Marvin - - of pew 36 

Edward Wentworth - of pew 42 
Samuel Raymond - - of pew 43 

Aaron Adams - - - of pew 44 
James Crowley - - of pew 51 
John Saunders father and 


son 

Seeley Squires 


of pew 53 
of pew 54 


Commodore Cannon’s name is also upon the record. 


ISAAC Camp, occupant of Pew No. 9, lived in the “ Silver Mine” district, in 
a house which stood on the opposite side of the street from, and somewhat 
below, the Abraham Camp residence. His son Abraham, of St. Paul’s church, 
is distinctly remembered to-day. He was the free mason, whose office, for so 
many years, it was, to carry the draped bible, square and compasses, at the 
burial of a brother, and whose simple and natural, but reverent demeanor, 
made, if possible, even more impressive, the order’s solemn rite of burial. 
The descendants of Isaac and Abraham Camp retain their ancestor’s spirit 
of devotion to the weal of this parish. 

Isaac Camp’s children were Elizabeth, who married Jemmy James, and 
Isaac, JR., who married in Darien, and Seth, who died young, and Mary, 
who married Benjamin Bishop, the father of George G. Bishop, Esq., and 
Anna and Harriet, who were unmarried, and Abraham, the youngest, who 
married Mary, sister of the late David St. John, warden of St. Paul’s church. 

Abraham Camp’s living children are, Semantha (Mrs. Andrew James,) and 
Isaac, who resides in the old home, and William, of Brooklyn, and Hannah 
whose home is with her brother Isaac. Said Isaac (Abraham’s son) married 
a daughter of the late James Wiseman, a man of truth and sincerity. 


Richard Camp, of Pew No. 15, married a neice of Dr. Learning. The house 
was on France street, and stood about where stands the Sherwood House of 
later times. A large family was here brought up. The oldest son, Richard, 
Jr., married Elizabeth Perry, as previously noted, and lived in one of the 
Norwalk homes which lay towards Winnipauk; a home — and the same might 
be said of many of the homes of his time — which was of convenient proximity 
to the farm, and where the fresh and healthy air stirred, and which was 
bathed, as God meant our homes should be bathed, in the life-giving sun- 
shine. Lemuel, another son of Richard Camp, Sr., married Polly, daughter 
of Noah Nash, and lived at the upper end of France street. He died years ago, 


63 


the same dimensions as Isaac Belden’s house.” Samuel Cannon, 
Henry Belden, Josiali Thatcher, 2d, and Richard Camp, 2d, were 

but his widow, who has been for a long period an earnest and excellent mem* 
ber of St. Paul’s church, still lingers, at a great age and in great infirmity, 
waiting to be called home 

The children of Richard Camp, Jr., were Ruth, (Mrs. Charles N. Clock, 
deceased,) and Miss Eliza and Miss Margaret, alluded toon page 14; and 
Samuel R. P., a resident of New York, and Mrs. Charles St. John, of Main street. 

Nathan Jarvis, of Pew No. 22, lived on Town House Hill. He had eight 
children. His daughter, Esther, married Samuel White, Jr., grandson of Peter 
White and Elizabeth Jarvis. His son, Nathan, married Betsey Sandford ; their 
children were Frederick S. (Capt. Frederick, of Westport,) and Mary A. (Mrs. 
Samuel Church,) and Elizabeth (Mrs. Solomon G. Taylor,) and Jane M., and 
William H., and Esther L. (Mrs. William St. John,) and Rachel, (Mrs. Bradley 
O. Banks,) and William 0., and John H., and Charles, and the late Miss Cath- 
arine. 

The occupant of Pew No. 57 was of a family from Brisset, England. Bolton, 
the New York historian, says : “Among the early settlers of this neighborhood 
(Yista, Westchester county,) may be mentioned Joseph Faverweather, of Nor- 
walk, who purchased about one hundred acres of land here. His wife, Cath- 
arine, was the neice of the second bishop of Connecticut.’’ 

There were several good and solid members of St. Paul’s church who 
resided, many years ago, in West Norwalk; and among these the occupants 
of Pew No. 25. Nathanael Street, and Esther his wife, were the parents of 
Samuel, and Joseph, and John Street. The old Street house stood on the road 
leading from Norwalk to Darien, a few rods south of the West Norwalk chapel 
of to-day. In that house Dr. Kemper held his “cottage services,” and Dr. 
Mead officiated. Samuel, son of Nathanael, was the father of the late much 
respected Chauncey Street. Joseph was the father of Edward Street, the first 
organist of St. Paul’s church, who married one who, even at eventide, made 
life radiant by her willing attentions and kindness, the mother of Mrs. 
Charles T. Leonard. John was the parent of William Jarvis Street, who 
married a lady of high character and much benevolence of purpose, the sister 
of Jonathan Camp, 4th. 

David Boult, of Pew No. 27, was a man who, it is inferred, could be counted 
upon. There were eighteen who paid more, and forty-nine who paid less 
for their pews than he; which seems to indicate his parish status straight 
through. The family (he remained here), removed to Norwalk, Ohio, and was 
influential, quite probably, in the founding of St. Paul’s parish, in that city. 

Jacob Jennings, the owner of Pew No. 34, took to wife Miss Grace Parker, 
(daughter of Dr. Parker, of Boston,) an English lady of rare gifts, whose con- 
spicuous qualities elicited the admiration of the Norwalk people. Her society 
was sought, and the young people, in particular, seemed to court her com- 
pany. The house, which is in good preservation to-day, stood on the south- 
east corner of Main street and North avenue, and within it was reared a large 
family. The oldest child, Lydia, married Abijah Mead. Grace, the second 
daughter, resided in New York city, and was the mother of the late Thomas 
Brady, a former member of Trinity school, New York, and afterward, and 
until old age, a member of St. Paul’s church, Norwalk. There was a son, 
Seth, and the son next to him was Isaac, who married Miss Elizabeth Sammis, 
of Long Island. (Selectman Sammis, and most, if not all of the Norwalk 
Sammises of to-day, are of the same Long Island family.) Anna, a daughter, 
next younger to Clarissa. (Mrs. Bryant Jarvis,) married Nicholas VanAntwerp, 
the father of Edwin VanAntwerp, a resident, in past years, of East avenue. 
Jacob, Jr., married Miss Nancy Trowbridge, and was the father of the late 
George W. Jennings, and of his sisters Delia and Julia Ann. Charlotte 
married Dr. Fenton. Sally was the worthy Mrs. McClure, who lived and died 
in her father’s home. Lawrence married Levi Clinton and resided in Patter- 
son. Mrs. Abijah (Jennings) Mead was the mother of Mrs. Eliza Weeks, and 
grandmother of Carlysle T. Weeks. 

The children of Isaac, son of Jacob and Grace, were Almira, (Mrs. Henry 
Hurlbutt and an old choir member); and Eliza, (Mrs. Nathan Whitehead, the 
mother of Mrs. James C. Newkirk); and Sally Ann, (who married Thomas 
Brady); and Cornelia, (the late Mrs. Henry Chase); and Antionette, (Mrs. 
Edward Messenger) ; and Gould D., (a vestryman of St. Paul’s church, and who 
was respected by the entire mercantile community); and William S. ; and 
Margaret, (Mrs. Joel Grumman) and Catharine, (the mother of Miss Nellie 
Baird principal of the Norwalk Female Seminary,) and Joseph H., (the father 
of Isaac Jennings, of Trinity church, South Norwalk), and Edgar. 




64 


the building committee, and had full direction of the work. This 
was the parsonage house* which gave way, in 1849, to the present 
home of the rector. And now, with the church in good condition 


The father of the Norwalk Jenningses, Jacob, of Pew No. 34, was a Bostonian. 
One of his sisters married a Bedfield, another, it is thought, a Dimon, and 
another a Marquand. Isaac Marquand, founder of the famed New York city 
jewelry house of that name, studied his art in this town (in a building which 
stood immediately north of the Connecticut hotel) under the direction of his 
uncle, Jacob Jennings. Mr. Jennings’ brother, or brothers, settled in South- 
port) 

The father of the Thomas Brady, of St. Paul’s church, was James, who 
married Jacob Jennings’ daughter Grace. James Brady’s father was Thomas 
Brodie — the Brady’s, formerly Brodies, are of Scotch descent — and Thomas 
Brodie’s wife was a French lady, of the family name of Celeste. 

Seth Jennings, son of Jacob and Grace, married a Miss Trowbridge. He 
died on the Island of St. Thomas, of yellow fever. Lucretia Jennings, daugh- 
ter of Seth, married Conrad Newkirk. 

In Pew No. 35 sat Captain Joshua Bouton, of old Bouton blood, a relative of 
Esaias and Samuel, and who was engaged in the East India trade, his home 
being what is now the property of Mrs. Elizabeth McLean. Mrs. Captain 
Bouton was a Miss Margaret McLean, an individual of sweetly-blended virtues 
of character. Their daughter, Harriett, afterward Mrs. Langdon Mott, was a 
member of St. Paul’s church choir, and sang in the church with Isaac Adams, 
of Westport, (father of Charles, of Norwalk,) and William Cornwall, and Miss 
Ann Boult, and others. She appears to have been a lady of fine musical 
accomplishments, and her rendition of this portion of the chubch service, 
especially at festival seasons, earned for her highly flattering acknowledg- 
ments 

The choir, in former times, was large, and almost filled the west gallery of 
the old church. Among Mrs. Mott’s cotemporaries were Samuel Camp, and 
Jemmy James, and Eben and Charles Boult, and the two sisters Boult, and 
Miss Eliza Jennings. 

An organ was first placed in the church about the year 1830, and a plate was 
put upon it memorizing the appropriation from the Betsey Hall fund, of one 
hundred dollars in aid of its purchase. The instrument was a small but 
pleasant-toned one, and was put in by Mr. Pierson, of New York. The line of 
St. Paul’s church organists is as follows : Edward Street, Horace B. Gaylord, 
William A. Barlow, Edward Street, again. Miss Emily Street, Miss Susan 
Hubbell, Miss Mary Esther Camp, Mr. William M. Betts, Miss Mary L. Hoyt, 
Miss Alice Fitch, Miss Nettie Camp, Miss Ferry, Mr. Frederick H. Nash, Mr. 
Stephen Hatch, Mr. Edward Jackson, Miss Jennie Nash, and Messrs. Hatch 
and Jackson again. 

1786, down to Dr. Mead’s 

Josiah Cornwall, 
William J. Street, 
Jonathan Camp, Jr., 
Charles Finney, 

James Finney, 

Israel Lockwood, 
Reuben a. Williams, 
Horace B. Gaylord, 
William a. Barlow. 

Obadiaii Wright, of Pew No. 45, was from Westport. He was formerly the 
owner of the tract to the river, whereon the new Christ church now stands. 
His granddaughter is a member of Christ church parish, Westport. 

The owner of Pew No. 46, Mr. Eliaklm Warren, having removed to Troy, New 
York, sold it, on August 15th, 1801, to Jonathan Camp. 

Peter James, the owner of Pew No. 49, was the grandfather of William K. 
James. Daniel, the third son of Peter and Mercy James, was born in 1773, 
and married (January 18th, 1798,) Anna Kellogg. Their second child, William 
K., was born September 15th, 1800. He was one of Norwalk’s substantial men, 
and a liberal son of the parish. 


The line of choristers 
acceptance of the parish 
hezekiah Jarvis, 
Isaac S. ISAACS, 
Holmes Saunders, 
Barnabas Marvin, 
Noah Jarvis, 

David Boult, 
William Betts, 

James James, 

Nathan Jarvis, 


from the consecration, in 
runs thus : 

Jacob Boult, 

Charles Boult, 
William Cornwall, 
Samuel Camp. 
Hezekiah Bennett, 
Grove Cornwall, 
Isaac Adams, 

Dennis Nash, 

Uriah Taylor, 




*See note page 65, 


65 


and a proper abode for their clergyman, action as follows was taken : 
“We, the subscribers, being desirous to establish a permanent 


One of our oldest church families was that of Asa and Betsey (Stuart) Olm- 
stead, (father and mother of Dr. David W. Olmstead, and his sisters Julia and 
Fanny), of Belden’s Hill. Mr. Asa Olmstead belonged to St. Matthew’s parish, 
Wilton, but during the closing years of its existence himself and family 
attended at the St. Paul’s, of 1786. His son. Dr. David W., studied under Bev. 
Dr. William Smith, and graduated at the New York Medical College. He was 
unmarried, as was alse his sister Julia. His sister, Fanny, married William 
Harrington. His cousin Charles (father of two communicants, in 1886, Mrs, 
Edwin and Mrs. George Beers) resided in Cranberry Plains, and his cousin, 
Silas, lived at Tarrytown-on-the-Hudson, and was one of the wealthy and most 
prominent citizens of that place. The nearest Norwalk descendants of Asa 
and Betsey Olmstead, now living, are the widow of Murrain Raymond, and 
Mrs. Julia Ann Hayes, and Mrs. Andrew Selleck. 

Captain Alfred Taylor, of Poplar Plains, nephew of Paul Taylor, of West 
Norwalk, is probably the oldest churchman in St. Paul’s, or either of its 
daughter parishes. He was born in 1791, and was, therefore, something of a 
child when the pews were first disposed of, in 1794. He is too infirm to attend 
upon the public services of religion, but his faculties, with the exception of 
his healing, are remarkably preserved, and the fervor with which the rare 
old faithful (whose memory antedates the rectorships of Dr. Mead, Dr. Kem- 
per, Dr. Sherwood, and Dr. Judd and extends through that of Mr. Whitlock, to 
the rectorship of Dr. Smith) engages in the private offices of the church, is 
impressive. He has come, with the partner of his days — fouryears his junior 
— gratefully, to the ending of a long life, both of them speaking tenderly of 
the blessings which, through the pilgrimage, have been vouchsafed them; 
and, together, looking hopefully forward to re-union in the land of endless 
youth and ceaseless song. 


♦Around the old parsonage (see cut) crowded many interesting associations. 
Beneath its roof Mr. Whitlock spent the concluding months of his parish 
connection, and Dr. Judd went in and out, and Dr. Sherwood resided for 
fourteen years. It was Mr. Richmond’s temporary home, and he planted a 
tree outside of it which reminds us to-day of the birth of a daughter within 
it. Dr. Kemper thoroughly enjoyed, and Dr. Mead was much attached to it. 
Under its shade such as Drs. Harry Croswell, and Francis L. Hawks, and 
William Shelton were welcomed. Bishop Brownell there met his gathered 
clergy. Bishop Benjamin T. Onderdonk knew the place. Dr. Muhlenbergh 
spent many pleasant hours therein. Dr. William F. Morgan read in its study. 
Dr. Thomas W. Coit was accustomed to its tones of greeting, and so was Dr. 
Gurdon S., his brother, and Dr. Ambrose Todd, of Stamford, and Revds. 
William Jarvis, and David and Abel Ogden, and Charles I. Todd, and B. M. 
Yarrington, and John Purves, all gone with the exception of the well remem- 
bered rectors of St. Thomas’, New York, and Christ church, Greenwich. 

The ancient spot witnessed to protracted discussions, and brave attestations 
to the church’s doctrines, and advocates of modern “developments” found no 
audience. The sound old churchmen thought and taught that it is by the 
spirit of the Lord, that the world progresses, and the notion, that because of 
the march of mind truth must change its base, seemed as senseless to them 
as the fear lest the “chaotic tendencies of Hume and Hobbe” should supplant 
the Divine revelation seemed shallow. 

Three parishes, in this old Episcopal see, were wont to be represented within 
the hospitable walls of that parsonage : The three— formerly as now— import- 
ant cures of Western Connecticut: St. John’s, Bridgeport, St. John’s, Stam- 
ford ; and St. Paul’s, Norwalk. The rectory of the latter, standing about mid- 
way between the other two, and close on to the old Post Road, naturally be- 
came the place where the clergy would frequently meet. The Revs. Philo 
Shelton, Jonathan Judd, and Reuben Sherwood, and, later, Drs. Gurdon S. 
Coit, Ambrose S. Todd, and William Cooper Mead, were cotemporaries. These 
clergymen were of one mind with regard to ecclesiastical polity, and the fun- 
dametals of the faith; their laity were churchmen from conviction, and dur- 
ing an era marked by “departures,” the parishes were a unit in insisting that 
there should be “no tampering with the landmarks.” The three have gone 
growingly on ; each can count, in missions, or in established parishes, at least 
five daughters ; and although the easternmost ranks its sisters in having been 
the first to rear, upon “a fair site,” a noble temple of stone, beautiful 
within and without, a temple worthy of the parish antecedents, still the other 
two have no cause to look regretfully back upon their achievements. 


66 


fund for the support or maintenance of the rector or minister of St. 
Paul’s Church or society in the town of Norwalk, county of Fairfield, 
State of Connecticut, and in consideration of the provisions and 


It will do no harm, perhaps, to add that the parsonages of 1806, and 1742, 
were conveniently situated a,s pertains to a particular other than that of 
a clerical gathering point. The inmates of these glebe houses were favored 
in being about the first of our citizens to obtain “the important news” 
which in olden times was dispatched by special messengers from Boston to 
New York, it was the practice, with these agents, in their passage through 
a town, to “shout forth” to its listening inhabitants any piece of intell- 
igence which might be of general interest, and their approach to the town 
or village was announced by the sounding of a horn. This horn was blown, 
for Norwalk, on the hill at the foot of which stood the ancient rectory, and 
the blasts called the resident at once to his dooryard. During the reign of 
one of the Georges, the birth of an heir, apparent or presumptive, was in this 
manner published to our people. The shrill “tooting” of the tidings-bearer 
was heard as he galloped down “Jarvis Hill,” and the denizens along the Green 
ran out to learn what the tidings might be. The messenger sped across the 
common, crying loudly, “a Prince is born, a Prince is born,” but one of our 
old rector’s neighbors was not satisfied ; he wished to know more concerning 
the matter, and would interrogate the courier; but the rider dashed on, leav- 
ing behind him the echoes of the proclamation, “a Prince is born — a prince 
is born.” 

PARISH BRIEFS. 

Some one says that the greatest poets have “learned in suffering what they 
taught in song.” The church of 1786 was born of struggle, but it burst forth 
eventually in brightness, and, when finally completed, was ah object of ad- 
miration. Its symmetrical proportions; its curved door and window head- 
ings; its artistic spire, tapering, in perfect lines, towards the sky; its con- 
cave ceiling, and graceful chancel arch, and panneled gallery fronts; the 
pure, pearl tint, reigning within, relieved pleasantly by the choir hangings at 
the west, and by the plush or damask desk, and pulpit drapery at the east 
end, and by the cushioned pews, and carpeted aisles, gave to it a certain indi- 
viduality, and made it a sort of survival of olden-time ecclesiastical taste. 

The fine row of Lombardy poplars in front of it (look again at cut of 
church) were set out, it is probable, in the spring of 1802. The parish made 
a purchase of between twenty and thirty of these tender-legended saplings, 
and distributed them through the church yard. They gave a kind of sober 
dignity to the spot, and are not, by any means, forgotten to-day. 

Neither has the tower room (the open space behind the choir) with its raised 
seats, and aisles branching to either gallery, passed quite out of memory. It 
was not an inconsiderable portion of the church in ancient times, and its 
south window (first tower window over the front door, as shown in cut) is 
referred to as having given a particularly cheerful atmosphere to the 
unpartitioned apartmenn The colored people once occupied this space, and 
in the days before the organ was introduced, their voices, in response and 
song, were wont to come in deep volume from it, over the gallery elevation. 
Latterly, and after the organ was placed in the church, a little room was 
parted off in that portion of the edifice, through which access was had to the 
belfry. 

Dr. William Smith was a composer of music, and during his rectorship 
awakened, doubtless, a taste for more fluent and attractive melody. Chanting 
was comparatively unknown, at that day, in this land, and a strong prejudice 
existed against it, so that no great progress in it was made at St. Paul’s further 
than that the singers themselves became much engaged in the matter. One 
of Dr. Smith’s successors seemed averse to it also, but the choir was persis- 
tent, and finally made use of an argument which prevailed. They arranged 
fora musical serenade to their rector, and prepared a choice programme. 
The selections (in chanting) were so delightful, and their execution of the same 
so skillful, that resistance ceased. Chanting was introduced, and so unusual 
was the practice, and so perfect was the old choir’s performance of it, that 
visitors from the city came to the town and church to listen to it. 

One of the most efficient members of the choir, in the past, was Mrs. Edward 
Smith (Esther Benedict,) daughter-in-law of Rev. Dr. William Smith, and 
mother of the present William D. and Henry Smith, and also aunt of the late 
Mrs. LeGrand Lockwood, and of Mrs. Charles F. Raymond, now residing in 
Knight street. Mr. and Mrs. Smith were married, on May 22d., 1811, by the 


67 


stipulations hereinafter contained, do promise to pay, to the wardens 
and vestrymen of said parish or society for the time being, such sum 

Rev. Dr. How, of Trinity church, New York, and their song-home stood near 
the pleasant knoll opposite to Henry Belden’s house. The remembrance of 
the “rehearsals’ within it is not yet effaced. The family pew was No. 24 
south side of the church. 

Prominent among the twenty-seven choirsters, from the consecration, in 
1786, down to Dr. Mead’s acceptance of the parish, was Mr. Samuel J. Camp, 
who lived in the house now standing, on the north-west corner of North 
avenue and Camp street. He was fond of music, and the choir was often at 
his house, and, when intent upon its trial of some new piece or anthem, his 
appearance (long curls flowing over his shoulders, and tune book in one hand, 
and tuning-fork in the other and beating time with both), was striking, and 
indicative of earnestness. The “singing schools” at choirster Camp’s house 
were quite a social feature, and among their frequent neighborhood visitors 
were Hon. Thaddeus Betts and Mr. Charles Robert Sherman. 

The line of four tower windows in the old church, and the series of small 
sky windows in the spire above the belfry, were brightly illuminated on the 
eve of 'he Nativity: which spectacle, heightened by that of the reflection of 
a burning candle from every pane in the nave, and voiced by the tones of the 
church bell borne cheerily out upon the electric air, was not only a brilliant 
but an inspiriting one, at the glowing tide when Christmas “set its warm 
kiss upou the inner man of the heart.” The old church was a marvel of 
beauty on Christmas Eve, and the susceptibilities of our fathers, to the 
charms of the grateful season, were remarkably keen. The church yard was 
black with people waiting for admission to the service on the night “which, 
to the cottage as to the crown, brought tidings of salvation down,” and of 
such account was the festival, in the estimation 5f one of the worshipers in 
the church of 1786, that from the hour of lighting the candles, on Christmas 
Eve, all work on the part of the farm hands was suspended for the next 
twelve days. 

While Christ church parish, Westport, was being organized, some fifty odd 
years ago, a “crisis” occurred. Subscriptions were slow, and the funds were 
running low. Approaching Mr. Daniel Nash, who was much interested in the 
matter, and who stood in the aisle or at the stove in old St. Paul’s, Dr. Kemper 
remarked, “Uncle Daniel, I purpose to double my subscription for Sauga- 
tuck.” “ Then I must double mine," was the reply. The result of which was the 
addition of several hundred dollars to the treasury, and the completion and 
consecration of the church. 

Dr. Kemper was not only fond of parish visiting, but he made systematic 
work of the duty. Among his parishioners from a distance w ere a father, his 
son, and their families, who dwelt beneath one roof. The pastor dined in 
one side of the house, and supped in the other. 

Th v first church, built by the parish, stood in the north-east corner of the 
present church grounds. It was used for church purposes about five years, and 
then converted into a parsonage. After about seventy years, service it was 
finally taken down in 18J6. 

The second church was built in 1743 and was in dimensions fifty-five feet by 
forty-two feet It was destroyed in 1779, and after worshiping for a few years 
in a temporary structure, the parish erected the church of 1786, over the ruins 
of the one that was burned, and of the same dimensions. 

Stephen Marvin is alluded to, in the centennial address, as having drawn 
the first stick of timber for the church of the last century. This was a fact, 
but the honor was coveted by another. Mr. Jemmy James said, in the hearing 
of Mr. Marvin, that it was his intention to be ahead of any one else with an 
offering. Then Mr. James, answered Mr. Marvin, you will have to get up very 
early in the morning. Stephen Marvin lived where his grandson, Josiah 
Raymond, of Westport, now lives. Jemmy James lived towards Belden Hill. 
Both were astir betimes, but Mr. Marvin was first upon the ground. 

The large vane which, alike in balmy air or furious blast and during sun- 
shine or through continuous rain, turns, a faithful indication of the course 
of the winds, formed, in the beginning of the nineteenth century, a target for 
a young city lad, (afterwards a vestryman of Trinity church, New York), who 
was staying in the place. The lad was a clever marksman, and on this occa- 
sion he took very excellent aim. The picked up path-side stone was unerr- 
ingly directed, and the vane fell to the pavement. 


68 


or sums as are applied to our names respectively, on tlie following 
terms or conditions, viz : 

Payment shall be made in the following manner, one-fourtli part 
at or before Easter Monday, one thousand eight hundred and 
seventeen, one-fourth part at or before Easter Monday, one thousand 
eight hundred and eighteen, one-fourth part at or before Easter 
Monday, one thousand eight hundred and nineteen, one-fourth 
part at or before Easter Monday one thousand eight hundred and 
twenty, with the lawful interest from Easter Monday one thousand 
eight hundred and sixteen on the whole amount of said subscription, 
and that annually, and the interest or income shall be applied to the 
support or maintenance of said rector or minister.” 


The Propagation Society’s prayer books, which belonged to the former 
church, with the rector’s marginal or interlined addition of successive 
sovereigns’ names, in the prayers for rulers, are kept in the parsonage. The 
communion table and rail, with the desk which was used in the same church, 
now stand in the Sunday school room, and the old pulpit is preserved. 

The west-end door of the church of 1786, a door fastened together with 
wrought nails, and hung with long iron hinges, and furnished with an old- 
fashioned door handle and latch, is preserved, folders, head piece and 
mouldings, almost intact. 

An instrument for “pitching ye tune,” and used as long ago as in the church 
of 1742, is now the property of Frederick H. Nash, a descendant of Dennis 
Wright and of Micajah Nash, choristers of that day. 

The following is one of the provisions of a will dated Norwalk, November 
23d, 1761. Isaac Isaacs, son of Ralph, bequeaths “unto St. Paul’s church, in 
said Norwalk, the sum of fifty pounds. New York money, to be laid out in plate 
for the use of the communion, for ever, in said church, and my name to be 
put upon the plate.” Witnessed by Jeremiah Learning, John Belden, and 
Joseph Hitchcock. The fund has disappeared, and further facts concerning 
it cannot be obtained. 

St. Mark’s parish New Canaan, is St. Paul’s oldest daughter. It was incor- 
porated in 1790. St. Matthew’s, Wilton, is next oldest, it having been orga- 
nized, in 1802; Christ church, Westport, (1834) follows next; then HolyTrinity, 
Westport, (1860); and Trinity, South Norwalk, is youngest daughter. 

St. Paul’s church, Norwalk, Ohio, was organized, in 1820, with eight commun- 
icants— five of whom were from St. Paul’s parish, Norwalk, Connecticut: 
These were Luke Keeler and Jemima, his wife; John Keeler and his wife; and 
Ruth Boult. Luke Keeler, senior warden of St. Paul’s, Norwalk, Ohio, from 
its incorporation until his death, in 1859, was the son of Phineas Keeler and 
Mary Camp. Mary Gamp was born December 5th, 1748, and was daughter of 
the Jonathan Camp, of that date. Norwalk, Ohio, is the namesake of Nor- 
walk, Connecticut; and the St. Paul’s of the former is not only a namesake, 
but may almost be said to be a daughter of the St. Paul’s, of the latter. 

During the incumbencies of the brothers, Caner, the parish numbered one 
hundred families. 

There were one hundred and seventy communicants belonging to the par- 
ish at the commencement of the Revolutionary War. 

After the withdrawal of the New Canaan and Wilton families, St. Paul’s still 
numbered one hundred and twenty households. 

There were two hundred and twenty-four communicants in the parish when 
Dr. Kemper came to it. Nineteen communicants were added during Rev. Mr. 
Richmond’s charge. 

The circular window work, in the church of 1786, was made by Daniel Nash 
the grandfather of Messrs. Edward and Andrew Nash, of Westport. 

Lovers of old narrations will excuse , perhaps, thisdesulory recital of parish 
memorabilia. 


69 


Two or three conditions are appended, after which some of the 
names and figures are : Ebenezer D. Hoyt, $700; Jonathan Camp, 
$600; Samuel and LeGrand Cannon, $600; Daniel Nash, $550; Daniel 
Nash, Jr., $500; Henry Belden, $500; Isaac Belden, $500; Esaias 
Bouton, $300; Josiah Church, $300; Paul Taylor, $300; Bichard 
Camp, $250; Nathaniel J. Street and William J. Street, $250; 
Abraham Camp and Thomas L. Camp, $240; Eseck Kellogg and 
Ebenezer Church, $325; Hezekiah Jarvis and Nathan Jarvis, Jr., 
and Isaac Church, $290; forty-one others in different amounts, 
$1,775. Total, $7,980. 

The fact and the figures speak; and this accomplished, the next 
agitation was that of the school question, the outcome of which was 
the construction, in 1821, of a parish school house. It was built by a 
stock company and upon the church property. The shares were in 
number one hundred, and then* value twenty dollars each. Samuel 
Cannon subscribed for ten shares; Henry Belden, ten shares; William 
J. Street, for ten shares; Daniel Nash, Jr., ten shares; Josiah 
Church, ten shares; Daniel Nash, five shares; Eseck Kellog, five 
shares; Nathan Jarvis, five shares; Jonathan Camp, five shares; 
Isaac Belden, five shares; Kichard Camp, three shares; Jesse Cur- 
tis, three shares; Dennis Nash, two shares; Joseph Platt, two shares; 
Abraham Camp, two shares; Benjamin Isaacs, two shares; and Bev. 
Beuben Sherwood, the balance, eleven shares. 

The building cost $1,375, and a report to that effect was made to 
the shareholders at a meeting, held February 5th, 1822, and a call 
for the amount, being thirteen and seventy -five one hundredths 
dollars per share, demanded: all of which was upon motion of Mr. 
Eseck Kellogg accepted and granted. The building was used for 
day and Sunday school purposes until 1844, when it was sold and 
removed, and the matter closed up by the receiving, in April of that 
year, a note for $456. 75, and the sale of the academy bell for $40. 

On June 15th, 1818, a number of the members of the parish met 
at the house of E. D. Hoyt, Esq. , and adopted the constitution of 
what was termed ‘ ‘The Norwalk Episcopal Society for the promotion 
# of Christian knowledge,” which had for its object “the establishment 
of a society’s library, the obtaining and as far as practicable the 
gratuitous distribution of the Bible, Book.of Common Prayer and 
religious tracts. The constitution had fifty-seven signers, including 
the Bev. Beuben Sherwood, in all probability the leading spirit in 
the matter, and Hezekiah and Nathan and William Jarvis, and 
William J. and Edward Street, and Jonathan Camp, Sr., and Jr., 
and LeGrand Cannon, and Isaac and Henry Belden. and J ohn and 
Charles Isaacs, nnd Eben and Edwin Hoyt, and Ebenezer Church, 


70 


1st., ancl David St. John, Jr., and Eseck Kellogg, and William 
Cornwall, and Margaret and Esther Mary Belden, and Eebecca 
Cannon, and Betsey Church, and Esther Street, and Lucretia 
Newkirk, and Mary E. St. John. Meetings were regularly held for 
several years, and quite a sum of money received and disbursed. 
The final meeting, of which we have any minutes, was the annual 
meeting of October 29th, 1824, at which time William J. Street was 
elected vice-president, and E. H. Street, secretary, and E. Hoyt, 
treasurer, and William K. James, librarian; while Jonathan Camp 
and Eseck Kellogg and David St. John were chosen collectors. 
This was the foundation, at least in modern times, of our present 
parish library.* The last subscription paper which can with any 
propriety be claimed as ancient, and this for the single reason that 
it holds two names which were on the subscription rolls of 1821 
and 1816, and one of them was on the subscription of 1792, is dated 
forty-seven years ago this month, and is the subscription list for 
this present edifice of the parish. The two names to which refer- 
ence is made are tho e of Jonathan Camp, Sr. , and Benjamin Isaacs, 
both of w hom lived to a good age, but neither of them long enough, 
thank God, to unlearn the glorious old time lesson of generosity, 
but together gave for this calm and beautiful house of prayer the 
sum of $600. f 

There have been legacies left to the parish, the incomes fromwdiich 
are helpful to it; and one bequeathment has been made from which 
those who come after us will derive the benefit. The corner stone, 
a solid block, for the stone church in which, divine providence so 
ordering and permitting, the centenary of 1986 w ill be held, is even 
now laid. I Other records may be lost or obliterated, but such, 
never, whilst immortality endures. 

The report w r hich summarizes the accomplishments of a century 
which is completed, must of necessity embrace performances with 
whicn all are more or less familiar, and these consequently need no 
detailed explanation. The corner-stone of this fifth parish church 
was laid in 1840, and the church was consecrated by the Rt. Rev. 
Benjamin T. Onderdonk, in 1841. 

A new parsonage was built in 1849, and in 1854 a new organ w r as 
procured. The sum of $1,125 w'as paid for the site of the new 
Trinity Chapel, South Norwalk, the corner-stone of which was laid 

*This library, in 1797, numbered sixteen volumes. 

tThe subscription paper for the new church (of 1840) was put into the hands 
of Messrs David St. John, Jr., S. F. Mills, Jonathan Camp, Jr., Asa E. Smith, 
and William Atwill, committee. Before this committee was appointed, Mrs. 
Sarah MacGregor, of Main street, had contributed $100. 

tThe legacy of the late William K. James. 


71 


in 1860, and a stone church erected, under the direction of Rev. 
Dr. Mead, John H. Smith, Jonathan Camp, and Charles F. Osborn, 
building committee, the cost of which church was nearly $8. 000. 

In 1868 a chancel was added to this church, and stained replaced 
its plain glass windows; the furniture of this chancel was the gift 
of a summer worshiper,* whose tasteful bounty enriched the chan- 
cels of both the church and South Norwalk chapel. 

Between 1886 and 1879 over one hundred thousand dollars passed 
from the parish for objects wholly outside its limits. From 1885 to 
the present time, between twenty-eight and twenty-nine thousand 
dollars have been raised. 

But while it may be thought, and justly, too, that many words 
have been spoken, it can truly be declared that much remains to be 
said. May some industrious hand be found to gather of the harvest 
which is left, t 

My dear Right Reverend Father, and my dear brother, the 
reverend rector of the parish, when he to whom was courteously 
intrusted the preparation of this paper was privileged, two years 
since, to stand in your presence in this holy spot and witness the 
approach within a single year to this memorial rail, for the laying 
on of hands, of some two hundred of the children of the old parents 
resting, he was impressed; how could it be otherwise; yet ought we 
to accept the fact of this great and gratifying success, without 
recognition, also, of the earnest faith and piety of those who laid in 
the years that are dead such strong foundations ? Borrowing, in 
part, the language, is not that which makes 1886 such a memorable 
year the fact that so many marvels have already been wrought ? 
We beg with profound deference to pray that the God of Seabury and 
of Jarvis, and of Brownell, may bless with the completest temporal 
and spiritual health and wealth, their beloved successor; and may 
he who was with Mead, and Kemper, and Sherwood, and Whitlock, 
and Bowden, and Learning, and Dibble, be with him who is walking 
this day in their footsteps. And for you, descendants of the 
admirable ancestors of this historic patrimony, the Lord our God 
be with you as he was with the fathers. May he never, never leave 
you nor forsake you. Amen and Amen. 


*The late George Platt, Esq. 

tThis harvest has, as an Important contribution, the record of the dili- 
gence and devotion of those who have lived, and labored, and gone to their 
rest, in times comparatively recent, the roll of whom is here presented. The 








72 


recollection of many of these communicants is yet tender, and of them, con 
sequently it fails to the future annalist to treat with historic impartiality. 


Miss Matilda Prowitt, 

Mrs Eliza Selleck, 

Frederick Church, 

Mrs. Nancy Skidmore, 

Mrs. Ebenezer Church, 

CARMT LOCKWOOD, 

Samuel Church, 

Mrs. Jess Smith, 

James Moody Hoyt, 

Mrs. Garrett H. Newkirk, 

Mrs. Celina Partrick, 

Mrs. Hannah Kroger, 

Mrs. Charlotte St. John, 

Mrs. Thomas Merrill, 

Mrs. Laur v Lockwood, 

Mrs. Sarah Street, 

Charles Hoyt, 

Mrs. Isaac Camp, 

Mrs. Elizabeth Street, 

Mrs. Henrietta Aiken, 

Mrs. Margaret Wood, 

Mrs. Deborah Ann Montgomery. 
Miss Beeching, 

Mrs. Susan Virginia Sherry, 
Mrs. William St. John, 

Mrs. Mary Hoyt, 

John Fitch, 

Mrs. Edward Street, 

Mrs. Lydia Staats, 

Mrs. Samuel Church, 

David St. John, 

Reuben A. Williams, 

DANIEL PARSONS, 

George Hoyt, 

Mrs. Emily Lockwood, 

Mrs. Lucinda Cornwall, 

Miss Hattie Hurd, 

Mrs. Joseph w. Hubbell, 

Mrs. Wheater, 

Mrs. Hannon, 

MiSS SARAH JARVIS, 

Frederick Hubbell, 

Mrs. Fanny Harrington, 

Isaac Church, 

Miss Ann Bryan, 

Col. Albert H. Wilcoxson, 

Miss Margaret Belden, 

Mrs. Maria Harlan Mead, 

Mrs. William C. Street, 

Miss Maria Bryan, 

Mrs. Colonel Ferris, 

Charles H. Street, 

Mrs. Caroline Platt, 

Asa E. Smith, 

Jonathan Camp, 

Mrs. Mary Gray, 

Mrs. Nancy St. John, 

Mrs. Harriett Finney, 

Mrs. Lydia Mitchell, 

Miss Emma Smith, 

Miss Amelia Belden, 

Charles Sherry, Jr., 

George Platt, 

Mrs. John Isaacs, 


Samuel Lynes, 

Theodore E. Smith, 

Mrs. Charles Jarvis, 

Mrs. John P. Beatty, 

Miss LAVINIA JARVIS, 

James A. Hoyt, 

Miss Sophia Bryan, 

Samuel Lynes, M. D., 

Miss Belle Platt, 

Miss Amelia Jarvis, 

Mrs. Harriett Wilson, 

Mrs. John G. Quigley, 

Mrs. Laura Craw, 

Mrs. Martha Wilcoxson, 
Thomas Brady, 

Mrs. Asa E. Smith, 

Henry W. Smith, 

Mrs. Esther Raymond, 
Charles Sherry, Sr., 

Henry Butterworth, 

John A. McLean, M. D., 
Alfred Jackson, 

Miss Eliza Hoyt, 

Miss Julia Camp, 

Miss Eliza Curtis, 

James Wiseman, 

Miss Julia M. Olmstead, 

Mrs. Shultz, 

John B. Orcutt, 

Mrs. Sarah Ann Pinkney, 

Mrs. dr. w. a. Lockwood, 

Miss Mary Jarvis, 

Miss Catharine Jarvis, 

Mrs. Thomas Brady, 

Mrs. Esther Beers, 

Mrs. Capt. Allen, 

Mrs. Edward Sheppard, 

Mrs. Robert Ells, 

Mrs. Amanda Eckford, 

Mrs. Susan St. John, 

Mrs. Angennette Mallory, 
Mrs. Eliza Whitehead, 

Mrs. Catharine Baird, 

Joseph W. Hubbell, 

Mrs. Dorinda Lockwood, 
James W. Pinkney, 

Samuel E. Olmstead, 

Mrs. Israel Lockwood, 

Miss Sally Nash, 

Mrs. William Kellogg, 

Mrs. Charles Partrick, 
Harvey p. Terrell, 

Mrs. George Hoyt, 

Bradley O. Banks, 

GOULD D. JENNINGS, 

Mrs. LUCRETIa Daskam, 

Mrs. Benjamin Barraclough, 
Miss Eliza Lockwood, 
Chauncey Street, 

Mrs. William Baxter, 

Henry Holmes, 

Mrs. Henry Holmes, 

Miss Sarah Holmes, 

Mrs. Post. 


Felicitous phrazes concerning the worth of the departed may be. a gratify- 
ing tribute ; well weighed biographical statements may be valuable testimony ; 
but the best memorial of membership in the church below, is a blameless 
walk in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord. May such excel- 
lence, on the part of its children, constitute the glory of St. Paul’s parish 
through all coming generations. 


APPENDIX. 










































. 














































































































































































































. 




















































































































































’ 


































































































' 






































































APPENDIX. 

|£v’HE services on July, 15th, 1886, in St. Paul’s parish, were of a 
^highly interesting character. The following is the invitation, 
which had been addressed to the right reverends the bishops of 
the church in the United States, and to the clergy of the diocese of 
Connecticut, and to many others, both clergymen and laymen, in 
different parts of the union : 

lVSSt^e** - —-^ 1886 . 



it jt>t. ^ixxxVs Church, jji 

^°^Walk, cobnssEC r n c ^ rr * 


You are cordially invited to attend the centennial commem- 
oration of the consecration of St. Paul’s Church, Norwalk, Con- 
necticut, to be held on Thursday, July 15th, 1886. 

This service will commemorate the first consecration of a 
Church in the United States. 


ORDER 

Holy Communion, - - - - * * * 10 :30 a. m. 

Sermon, by the Bishop of Connecticut. 

Address, by Rev. E. E. Beardsley, D. D., and others, with an 

Historical Address by the Rev. Chas. M. Selleck, - - 2 p. m. 

Visitors will be entertained by the ladies of the parish immediately after 
the morning service. 

The clergy will please bring their surplices. 

HOWARD S. CLAPP, 

Rector. 

Norwalk, Conn., June 21, 1886. 


76 


The day broke under a gray sky, and the weather during its early 
hours, was unfavorable. This, however, did not prevent a goodly 
congregation from assembling for the introductory service, at half- 
past ten o’clock. , a. m. , at which hour some thirty of the clergy, 
having previously robed in the rectory, preceeding the bishop of 
the diocese, marched to the main entrance of the church. The 
hymn “ O God our Help in Ages Past,” was the processional; on 
reaching the chancel, the lines divided, and between them Right 
Reverend John Williams, the bishop of the diocese, followed by 
the Rev. Howard S. Clapp, the rector of the parish, and the Revs. 
Drs. Beardsley and Vibbert, and Rev. Mr. Selleck, passed into the 
sanctuary. In the choir of the chancel sat the rectors and pastors 
of the five daughter parishes of St. Paul’s: The Rev. Messrs. Bell, 
Williams, Lewis, Meyrick, and Coley. The remainder of the clergy 
occupied reserved front seats in the middle aisle. 


The bishop began the anti-communion office, Rev. Mr. Selleck 
reading the epistle, and the Rev. Dr. Beardsley reading the gospel. 
After the singing of the hymn ‘ ‘With One Consent Let all the Earth. ” 
The bishop preached from Psalm XCHI: 6, “Thy Testimonies, 
O Lord, are very sure; Holiness becometh thine house Forever.” 
The sermon was one of rare power; its palpable idea being The 
Strength and Perpetuity of Truth and the Church. 

The holy communion was celebrated, the bishop being consecra- 
tor, and the rector, assisted by the clergy, within the sanctuary, 
administering. At the conclusion of the morning service all visitors 
were the guests of the parish; and at half past two o’clock, p. m., 
the bishop, with the rector and Rev. Dr. Beardsley and Rev. Mr. 
Selleck, re-entered the chancel. The hymn “ O Come loud 
Anthems” was sung, and the Rev. Dr. Beardsley made an address 
of marked force and interest. The hymn, “O Render Thanks” 
followed, and, after the reading of the historical paper which forms 
the body of this book, the doxology was sung. The bishop then 
read the concluding collects, and gave the final benediction, and a 
memorable day in the parish closed beneath a cloudless heaven, 
and with happy auguries for the future. 


77 


THE VISITING CLERGYMEN. 


RT. REV. JOHN WILLIAMS, - 
REV. DR. E. E. BEARDSLEY, - 
REV. WILLIAM D. VIBBERT, D. D.,- 
REV. DR, GIBSON, 

REV. M. M. FATHERGILL, 

REV. JOSHUA KIMBER, - 
REV. W. W. MONTGOMERY, - 
REV. WILLIAM FITCH, - 
REV. J. W. BONHAM, - 
REV. GEORGE P. HEBBARD, - 
REV. CHARLES G. ADAMS, 

REV. JOHN TOWNSEND, - 
REV. C. C. CAMP, 

REV. SYLVESTER CLARKE, - 
REV. JAMES E. COLEY, - 
REV. J. H. FITZGERALD, - 
REV. LOUIS FRENCH, 

REV. A. N. LEWIS, 

REV. H. L. MEYRICK, 

REV. W. C. ROBERTS, 

REV. G. P. TORRENCE, - 
REV. MILLIDGE WALKER, 

REV. JOHN R. WILLIAMS, 

REV. THOMAS BELL, - 
REV. W. W. WALKER, 

REV. EDWARD RIGGS, 

REV. M. B. DUNLAP, - 


Connecticut. 
New Haven. 
Fair Haven. 
Utica. 

Quebec. 

New York. 

Mamaroneck. 

Brooklyn. 

New York. 

Jersey City. 

Southport. 

Middletown. 

New Haven. 

Bridgeport. 

Westport. 

Milford. 

Darien. 

Westport. 

New Canaan. 

Ansonia. 

Bethel. 

Bridgeport. 

Westport. 

So. Norwalk. 
Stratford. 
Stamford. 
Redding Ridge. 


The committees appointed to make arrangements and have gen- 
eral charge of the ceremonies were as follows: 

FINANCE COMMITTEE. 

The Rector, and Senior and Junior Wardens. 


COMMITTEE ON INVITATIONS. 

THE REV. HOWARD S. CLAPP, - - - Chairman. 

MR. ST. JOHN MERRILL, REV. C. M. SELLECK. 






78 

COMMITTEE ON HOSPITALITY, 


HON. ASA SMITH, 
CHARLES E. ST. JOHN, 
A. CARMI BETTS, 
LEGRAND C. BETTS, 
GOOLD HOYT, 


CHARLES F. OSBORN, 
WILLIAM H. SMITH, 
DR. C. W. MANY, 

W. S. MOODY, JR., 
SAMUEL BEATTY. 


DECORATION COMMITTEE, 


MISS CARRIE SMITH, 
MISS ELINOR L. SMITH, 
MISS M. M. WEAVER, 


MISS ANNA P. MERRILL, 
MRS HARRY BALCOM, 

MRS. M. LOUISA LEONARD. 


MISSIONARIES, MINISTERS IN CHARGE AND RECTORS OF 
ST. PAUL’S, 1737 TO 1886 


REV. HENRY CANER, - - - - - - - 1737 

REV. RICHARD CANER, 1738 

REV. JOHN OGILVIE, very brief charge, - - - 1749 

REV. JOHN FOWLE, temporary, ----- 1851 

REV. EBENEZER DIBBLE, ------ 1756 

REV. JEREMIAH LEAMING, D. D. - - - - 1758 

REV. EBENEZER DIBBLE, D. D. - - - 1779-1784 

.REV. JOHN BOWDEN, D. D., 1784 

REV. MR. FOOTE, 1789 

REV. GEORGE OGILVIE, ----- 1790 

REV. WILLIAM SMITH, D. D., - - - - - 1797 

REV. HENRY WHITLOCK, 1800 

REV. BETHEL JUDD, ------- 1811 

REV. EVAN M. JOHNSON, 1313 

REV. BETHEL JUDD, - - 1814 

REV. REUBEN SHERWOOD, 1816 

REV. HENRY S, ATWATER, ----- 1830 

REV. JACKSON KEMPER, D. D. - 1831 

REV. JAMES C. RICHMOND, 1835 

REV. WILLIAM COOPER MEAD, D. D., LL. D., - 1836 

REV. CHARLES M. SELLECK, ----- 1881 

REV. HOWARD S. CLAPP, ------ 1883 




<S>fficjex*s of tlxje parish, 1886 . 

— t-^— i— ♦— 

SENIOR WARDEN. 

ALLEN BETTS; Vestryman, April 13th, 1857; Warden, April 
10th, 1871, 


JUNIOR WARDEN. 

EDWARD K. LOCKWOOD; Vestryman, April 13th, 1868; 
Warden, April 14th, 1884. 


VESTRYMEN 

JAMES FINNEY, first elected to vestry, - April 17th, 1843. 
JOSIAH KELLOGG, ----- April 5th, 1863. 
GEORGE WARD SELLECK, - - - April 22d, 1878. 

ASA SMITH April 11th, 1881. 

CHARLES T. LEONARD, - - - - April 10th, 1882. 

LEGRAND JACKSON, - April 10th, 1882. 

HOMER MERRILL ------ April 14th, 1884. 

WILLIAM H. SMITH, - - - - April 5th, 1885. 

DANIEL C NASH, ----- April 16th, 1886. 


TREASURER. 

EDWARD K. LOCKWOOD, - - - April 26th, 1886. 


CLERK, 

ST. JOHN MERRILL, was elected April 11th, 1881. 


80 


OFFICERS AND TEACHERS OF THE SUNDAY SCHOOL 

REV. HOWARD S. CLAPP. - - - Superintendent. 

ST. JOHN MERRILL, - - Assistant Superintendent. 

ALLEN BETTS, Parish Librarian. 

GEORGE DARROW, - - - Sunday School Librarian. 

MISS ALICE FITCH, 

MISS SARAH L. STEVENS, 

MISS LAVINA BROTHERTON, 

MISS NELLIE ST. JOHN, 

MISS LILIA SELLECK, 

MISS CARRIE SMITH, 

MISS LAURA P. MERRILL, 

MRS. GEORGE HUNTER, 

MRS. SAMUEL H. BARNES, 

MRS. ST. JOHN MERRILL, 

MRS. LEGRAND JACKSON, 

MISS ADA BETTS, 

MRS. EDWARD M. JACKSON, 

MISS KATIE KROGER, 

MRS. AMELIA WILLIAMS, 

MRS. RUFUS FILLOW, 

MRS. THEODORE E. SMITH, 

MISS ANNIE B. MERRILL, 

MISS CARRIE L. SMITH, 

MISS CATHERINE CAMP, 

MISS LOTTIE WHEELER, 

MISS MILLIE G. SMITH, 

MISS GERTRUDE CAMP, 

JULIUS F. PARTRICK, 

MRS. JULIUS F. PARTRICK, 

MISS AMELIA C. WILLIAMS, 

MISS ELLA BYXBEE, 

MISS JESSE PARSELLS, 

HENRY WILLIAMS, 

MISS SARAH E. FITCH, 

MISS ELLEN MERRILL, 

AUGUSTUS C. GOLDING, 

MISS MINNIE KELLOGG, 

MRS. HANNAH L. SMITH, 

MRS. WALLACE DANN, 

LEGRAND JACKSON, 

MISS MILLICENT M. WEAVER. 


81 


The Rev. Heney Caner, of Fairfield, had evidently officiated in 
Norwalk before the organization of the parish, in 1737. A petition, 
with several hundred signatures, was, in 1738, addressed to the 
General Assembly, by the churchmen of Connecticut. To this 
paper there were forty -two Norwalk signers; which number prob- 
ably embraced all the male members, over sixteen years of age, 
of the church of England, in this town. The names are these: 


Joseph Hitchcock, 
Joseph Lockwood. 
Isaac Brown, 

Ralph Isaacs, 
Jonathan Camp, 
Nathaniel Fitch, 
Lindle Fitch, 

James Betts, 

John Williams, 
Nathan Smith, 

Hugh Stone, 

William Pearson, 
Nathan Olmstead, 
Anthony Beers, 
Edward Nash, 
Nathaniel Hayes, 
James Hayes, 

John Jeffeck, (?) 
Joseph Ketchum, 
Haynes Hanford, 
Joseph Hitchcock, Jr., 


Joseph Ketchum, Jr., 
Nathan Nash, Sr., 
Leroy Sanders, 
Samuel Jarvis, 
Samuel Jarvis, Jr., 
Jonathan Atherton, 
John Sherwood, 

John Beers, 

John Beers, Jr., 
Andrew Mills, 
Nathan Burrell, 
William Mills, 

John Banks, 

Micajah Nash, 
Thomas Jelliff, 
Richard Partrick, 
John Partrick, 
Benjamin Keeler, 
Ephriam Lockwood, 
David Whelply, 
David Kellogg, 


At a parish meeting, held October 7th, 1784, Thomas Belden, 
moderator, the following action was taken : 

“Voted, that a petition be prepared to the Honorable General 
Assembly, at their session of instant October praying some relief 
for the loss of the Church. Also, 

Voted, that Mr. John Saunders be the society’s agent for the 
above purpose. ” 

The meeting’s appointee was thus accredited: “This certifies 
that the within named, John Saunders, was appointed agent, by 
the Episcopal Society, in Norwalk, at a legal meeting, convened 
on 7th of October, 1784, for the above and foregoing purpose.” 

Certified by 

HEZEKIAH BELDEN, 


Society’s Clerk. 




82 


The text of the petition is as follows : 

“That said professors, some years since, at a very great expense, 
and with much difficulty, (as their numbers were few), built them- 
selves, in said Norwalk, an elegant and decent church, and well 
furnished the same at their own cost and expense; where said 
professors for many years back had a minister regularly settled, 
and performed divine service at their cost, and still have the 
gospel preached among them, and are now formed into a society 
agreeable to the privilege, by statute law, lately given to the 
Episcopal church in this state. 

That in the month of July in the year of our Lord one thousand 
and seven hundred and seventy-nine, the enemy then at open 
war with the United States of America, burnt up and destroyed 
said church to the great impoverishment and distress of said 
professors; and that said professors have ever since been put to a 
great inconvenience for want of said church to meet in and carry 
on public worship; and whereas said professors are subjects of 
said state, and being such, have met with said loss in the course 
of the late war which was estimated by your honorable committee 
at about twelve hundred pounds lawful money; said professors 
are induced to look up to your Honors for relief or some assistance 
towards obtaining or furnishing themselves with a church again 
in order to have a place convenient for divine service. 


That said professors are very desirous to have a church again to 
meet in for public worship, but are unable to build one without 
the assistance of your Honors; and as the loss of said church is a 
misfortune in the course of a war said professors have reason to 
hope for relief from your Honors in the premises. 

Wherefore your honorable memoralists in behalf of said pro- 
fessors, humbly pray your Honors to take their unhappy case, 
situation, and circumstances into your wise consideration, and 
grant said professors the sum of five hundred pounds, lawful 
money, for the purpose aforesaid, or such other sum as your 
Honors in your great wisdom shall judge suitable; or in such other 
way grant relief in the premises as shall be thought proper, and 
your members as in duty bound shall ever pray.” 

“ The prayer of these petitioners is negatived 


83 


The subjoined roll is made up from the calendar of the Con- 
necticut colonists, prior to 1655, who have had representatives in 
Norwalk, and from the Norwalk calender of 1664-5. The de- 
scendants of these are the descendants of our very oldest families. 


Abbitt, 

Bartlett, 

Barnum, 

Beachman, 

Beebe, 

Beckwith, 

Belden, 

Benedict, 

Betts, 

Bissell, 

Boitton, 

Bryant, 

Buckingham, 

Camp, 

Campbell, 

Church, 

Ely, 

Fitch, 

Gregory, 

Hales, 

Hanford, 

Haynes, 

Homes, 


Hoyt, 

Jennings, 

Keeler, 

Kellogg, 

Lockwood, 

Lupton, 

Marvin, 

Marsh, 

More, 

Morgan, 

Nash, 

Olmstead, 

Perry 

Baymond, 

Bichards, 

Bogers, 

Buscoe, 

Sension, [St. John,] 
Seamore, [Seymour,] 
Smith. 

Web, 

Whitinge, 


CLERGYMEN OF THE CHURCH WHO WERE NATIVES OF 
ST. PAUL’S PARISH. 


BT. BEV. ABBAHAM JABVIS, 
THE BEY. DAVID BELDEN,* 
THE BEY. MELANCTHAN HOYT, 
THE BEY. JAMES KEELEB,f 
THE BEY. WILLIAM JABVIS, 
THE BEY. LEGBAND FINNEY, 
BEV. CHABLES M. SELLECK. 


♦Grandfather of Nathan Marvin Belden, of Wilton, and great-grandfather 
of the Rev. Charles M. Belden, (son of Nathan M.), of Wilton. 

fUncle to Edward Keeler Lockwood, junior warden and treasurer (1886) of 
St. Paul’s parish. 


# 


84 


ADDITIONAL PARISH NOTES. 

The Rev. Henry Caner visited Norwalk, as missionary, as early, 
evidently, as 1729, and divine service was performed probably at 
private houses or, possibly, where a parish meeting was held in 
later times, at “ye old school house.” 


Let it be borne in mind that what are now “the green” and the 
parsonage and church yards and grounds, was, in 1737, a tract of 
“common or undivided lands,” called Mill-Plain, the upper portion 
of which, the precise site of the present church and its rear yard, 
was used for a public sheep-fold. The Connecticut Turnpike had 
not been opened, although a street ran from north to south across 
the plain, on the eastern side of which, and about where is located 
the recent Flavius Clark purchase, were, it is believed, the house, 
garden, and grounds of Lieutenant William Lees. The orig- 
inal grant of land, 1733-4, to the Professors of the Church of 
England, from the proprietors of the Norwalk Common Lands, was 
one-quarter acre on ‘ye plain before Lieutenant Lees’ door,” 
and Joseph Platt and John Marvin were constituted a committee 
to lay out the same. In the extreme north-western angle of 
Officer Lees’ dooryard stood a rock, and a point sixty-six feet 
west, bearing south, from that rock, was the established north-east 
corner of the future St. Paul’s territory. From this point, marked 
by a “heap of stones,” the line ran along the street, “south and 
westerly,” two hundred and one feet, which at that day formed 
the church frontage. From the south-east point the line took a 
somewhat north-westerly direction for about fifty-seven feet; 
thence an easterly course “nine rods and eleven feet, ’’thence north- 
westerly “two rods and a half, where is erected a heap of stones 
for ye north-west corner ” Within these limits was the proprie- 
tors’ grant, as marked out by their committee, but a mere paper 
grant until the day before Christmas, 1736, when at the instigation 
of Ralph Isaacs, the lot was surveyed, and preparations for its 
occupancy began. During the next few months, (we have now 
reached the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of these events), 
the parish was organized, and a small church building, which was 
afterward converted into a parsonage, was erected upon the 
extreme northern or north-eastern part of this grant. Here the 
Rev. Henry Caner came, weekly, from Fairfield, and officiated. 
His brother Richard, who succeeded him, was the first settled rector 
of the parish, and, while he was at St. Paul’s, action looking to an 
addition to the church grounds was taken. It was but a short time 


85 


before a second church was built, more toward the south, and in an 
enlarged lot. This was the church which was burned, in 1779. 


Ralph Isaacs, who was one of its first two elected wardens may 
justly be denominated a founder of St. Paul’s parish. He bought 
of Benjamin and Esther Lines, of Fairfield, some six acres, between 
the present properties of Frederick T. Betts and Mrs. James A. 
Hoyt, and this was the home of the parents of the Norwalk 
Isaacses. Several of our fathers, Isaac Hayes, Goold Hoyt, John 
Cannon, and Colonel Thomas Fitch, went to Fairfield for their 
wives. Ralph Isaacs did the same. He married Miss Mary 
Rumsey, of the latter place, in 1725. He had four sons, Samuel, 
Isaac, Benjamin, and Ralph, and four daughters, Mary, Esther, 
Sarah, and Isaac. His oldest son, Samuel, married into one of 
Norwalk’s early families, that of James Brown, Esq. Samuel Isaacs 
and Mary Brown were the parents of Isaac Isaacs and Samuel 
Brown Isaacs, of extensive “rights, titles and interests” in West- 
chester County, New York; the ancient home of whom, in that 
county, a home where Washington and his staff were entertained, 
is, says Bolton, indicated to-day by the door step, which is yet in 
its place, and by the famous pear tree, nearly two hundred years 
old, which is still standing and still annually in bearing. The 
Mary Isaacs referred to in foot note, page fifty-two, was the mother 
of these brothers, and the family name is one of high respecta- 
bility. 

The “Isaacs House” which was recently taken down, was built by 
the father for his sixth bom, Benj amin. The story of the home is this : 
“On the sixteenth day of January, 1750-1, Ralph Issaacs bought of 
John Seymour, of Norwalk, the land which is now covered by the 
Opera house and adjoining stores, post-office, railway station, bank, 
Hour building, pharmacy, Masonic temple, and private residence 
and grounds, five acres and thirty-four poles for a sum equal to 
about six hundred dollars. The eastern boundary of the property 
was the ‘highway by harbor,’ the northern the ‘country road,’ the 
southern the ‘homelot land of Captain Samuel Keeler,’ (Captain 
Keeler was father-in-law of Charles Hoyt’s sister, Mrs. Joseph 
Keeler), and the western, the ‘land under improvement by James 
Brown. ’ ” Mr. Isaacs added to the area by the purchase, March 
12th, 1752, from Joseph Simpson, of New York, of one and three 
quarters acres, price $100. This extended his domain as far as to 
West avenue, with the exception of a plot near the northwestern 
corner, which was owned by James Brown. A building, the late 


86 


Isaac’s house, was now constructed upon the northern line, between 
which and the stores which were reared, one by one, upon the 
eastern boundary, rose the distinctly remembered “Isaacs Hill.” 
On February 16th 1759, the “full half” of this property, the 
“northern half” was deeded to Benjamin, son of Ralph, with 
the “new dwelling house erected on the same.” Benjamin mar- 
ried Sarah Scudder. It is believed that there were three Scud- 
der brothers, who came about the same time to America. One 
of them, Isaac, settled in Norwalk, and here married Elizabeth, 
daughter of Joseph St. John, who resided upon what has in later 
times been known as the Charles B. White place. Benjamin and 
Sarah (Scudder) Isaacs, had five children: Isaac S., the oldest, and 
father of the late Judge Benjamin Isaacs, and his brothers William, 
Charles, and John; Benjamin, who married a Sackett, and had no 
children; Sarah, who married into the Rogers family; and Esther, 
who married Amos Belden, and removed to Dutchess County, New 
York. Benjamin’s (son of Ralph) life was short. He died at the 
age of thirty-seven. His widow married David Bush, of Greenwich, 
and was the mother of six children by this marriage. Among these 
children was Charlotte, afterward Mrs. S. Buckingham St. John of 
East avenue. At Benjamin Isaacs death, the Isaacs house and land 
fell to his son, Isaac Scudder Isaacs, who married Susannah, sister 
of Stephen St. John. These had four children, Benjamin (Judge), 
William, Charles, and J ohn. After Isaac S. , and Susannah Isaacs’ 
day, Benjamin, their eldest son, became owner of the property, no 
small portion of the original extent of which is now held by his 
descendants. This same Judge Isaacs was the immediate fore- 
father of the Norwalk and New Rochelle Lynes and Lockwoods, 
and Weeds, and Hills, and Coleses. The second daughter of Ralph 
Isaacs, Esther, married a citizen of Long Island, and was ancestress 
of the Woolsess and Dwights of undisputed fame throughout the 
continent. Ralph, Jr., removed to Branford, New Haven County; 
and Grace, the last child, and daughter, was foremother of the 
New Haven Ingersolls and Gregories of official and social distinction 
in this commonwealth and nation. Ralph Isaacs, the father and 
founder, is buried Down Town. 


James Brown is another of St. Paul’s corporators who may prop- 
erly be alluded to at this anniversary tide. Careful investigation 
seems to assign to him descent from a British family, concerning 
which Huntington in his history of Stamford writes thus: “The 


87 


Browns were early in the ancient Stamford, Lincoln, and they were 
also of no little repute. Their monuments still speak of their 
fame.” Mr. Brown was an attorney of Norwalk, and a conspicuous 
mover, in 1 737, in parish affairs. His father (James), who was “ad- 
mitted an inhabitant” of Norwalk, in about 1685, was a pioneer 
New England settler. He had four sons, Elisha, Isaac, John and, 
J ames, and at least one daughter, Kuth. J ames, the lawyer, married 
aNew Jersey lady, and his residence is designated by him in an old 
document, as “my mansion house in Norwalk.” He had seven 
children. He was one of the first proprietors of Rridgefield, and 
was a house-and-land-owner in the colonies of Connecticut and New 
York. With William Smith,* of New' York, he purchased about 
eleven thousand acres in the latter state. His daughter Mary, 
married Samuel, son of Ralph Isaacs, and his eldest son, James, 
born in Norwalk, in 1720, moved to the State of New York, where 
he was an ardent friend of the church, and gave to it about one 
hundred acres of land. James Brown, the settler, died, some- 
where near 1709; James, 2d., died, in 1769; James, 3d., died Feb- 
ruary 19th, 1786, about five months before the church of 1786 was 
consecrated. 


There have been a number of St. Paul’s members who have 
borne the name of Hoyt. It is one of the very oldest family names 
in the land. Simon Hoyt landed in Massachusetts as early as 
1628-9. Remaining some few years in the eastern portion of the 
colony, he came to Fairfield somewhere near 1646. There was, in 
the Seventeenth Century, a small inner island, about five miles 
east of the Norwalk Islands, which was called “Hoits Island.” He 
was its owner. It is stated that he left Fairfield for Stamford about 
1650, although Huntington claims him as a 1642 Stamford pioneer. 
There was a Thomas Hyoute in Stamford, in 1651. (There is 
ground for believing that Hoyt and Hyatt were originally the same 
family name.) Thomas Hyoute — Hyat — Hoyt, died, in 1651, and 
Simon, September 1st, 1657. Walter, the first Norwalk Hoyt, was 
Simon’s son, probably, and came to Norwalk, from the same town 
from which Simon, at or near the same time, went to Fairfield. 
He was an ancestor not without a record. His homelot bordered 
upon the ancient road to Fairfield, and, in about 1671, he was one 
of the nine largest land owners in town. He was deputy, in 1667, 

*William Smith, who was lawyer James Brown’s partner in this transaction, 
is supposed to have been the last century’s noted New York City lawyer of 
that name and who subsequently was Chief Justice in the Canadian prov- 
inces. 


88 


to the court in Hartford, and a petitioner, in 1672, with Bichard 
Olmstead, Thomas Benedict and others, for the ‘ ‘beginning of a 
plantation neare the backside of Norwalke. ” Zerubbabel and John 
Hoyt were Walter’s sons. John married a Lyndall, of New Haven. 
His sons were John, Samuel and Thomas. From these sons, 
(Zerubbabel’s children seem to have been mostly, if not all, daugh- 
ters), the Norwalk Hoyts can, it is fair to presume, trace their 
descent. There is one distinction to which this family (the Hoyt 
family of Norwalk) is entitled. Their ancestor, Walter, was, in all 
probability, the first of this town’s fathers to be found in the west- 
ern world. He lived in East Norwalk, just where the New York 
down trains were, until recently, compelled to stop before crossing 
the bridge. 


In the historical topography of Norwalk, that portion of the 
township which is known as lower East avenue abounds in local as- 
sociations, and is a point of civic interest. 

A number of its homes were not simply ancient and nothing 
more, they were tenanted by men of influence and importance in 
primitive New England and New York times. On the corner below 
the present homestead of George W. Cram, Esq. , (now in the pos- 
session of the Hendricks family), was the residence of a widely 
named colonist, and an efficient and eminent Continental com- 
mander. This was Colonel Thomas Fitch, who, during the period 
of the French and Indian hostilities, rendered splendid service, and 
whose signal abilities found an arena at the seat of executive action 
at the capitol of the colony. Somewhat below the colonel’s house, 
and on the opposite side of the street, dwelt his father, the accom- 
plished scholar, gentleman and ruler, Governor Thomas Fitch. 

Still further south, and a little over the hill (now Earl’s Hill), 
was the home of the governor’s parents, and nearly opposite to 
them abode one of the four court — designated commissioners, who, 
in 1673, ran the boundary line between Connecticut and New York. 
In this neighborhood resided one who was nominated, with John 
Wintlirop and John Mason, and others such, in Charles II. Char- 
ter of Connecticut ; almost exactly where the railway now crosses 
the avenue, was the cradle of four w r ho were in after years ranked 
among the most successful business men of the century, and whose 
mercantile methods warrant high commendation ; while the esteem 


89 


in which three notable men whose homes lay in the same vicinity 
were held knew no recession. These are facts worthy of, at least, 
respectful recollection. 


The following is a copy of a manuscript letter in pencil (and now 
becoming illegible), of Dr. Kemper to Mr. Richmond. It is 
written on the first page of a small, unbound transcript of the 
former’s official acts in the parish, and, with the exception of a 
sheet of cap paper filled with the statement of Rev. Henry S. 
Atwater’s doings, is the oldest Rector’s Register of St. Paul’s parish 
in existence. Between two pages of the book is a fragment of a 
leaf which records an undated marriage and burial by Dr. Judd. 
There was a Parish Register in 1760 ; but it was probably con- 
sumed with Dr. Learning’s library. The register which Dr. Kem- 
per presented to the parish (the condition which he imposed was 
fulfilled) is in the keeping of the present rector. 

“To the Revd. James C. Richmond : — 

My Dear Brother : — 

This book is imperfect, but it is as correct as I have time to make 
it. If you have a taste for these things you might, in a few weeks, 
fill up the blanks I have left. You will find in the hands of my 
excellent friend, Mr. Jonathan Camp, Jr., a parochial register 
(blank) which I have presented to the parish upon condition that 
they have this book copied therein. In the larger book you will 
find the names of two of my predecessors. They might likewise be 
copied in the register, if you think proper. It is usual, I believe, 
to have the name of the rector at the bottom of each page. 

In great haste, 

Affectionately yours, 

Jackson Kemper. 

27 October 1835.” 

This letter . was written by Bishop Kemper, who continued his 
charge of St. Paul’s for a short time after his consecration, 


FITCH FAMILY MEMORANDUM. 

The name is German. Braintree, which, in the particulars of 
direction and distance, bears the relation to London, England, 
that Norwalk bears to New York City (about forty miles north- 
east) was peopled, originally, by Flemish emigrants. Booking, 
a village in Braintree, Essex county, was the home of Thomas 
Fitch, the progenitor of the American family of that name. He 
had, if the tradition is correct, five sons, three of whom (we have 
no definite knowledge concerning the other two) accompanied 
their mother, after her husband’s decease, to this country. 
Thomas and Joseph came to Norwalk (Joseph remained here but 
a short time, until 1655) and James went to Norwich. We trace 
the following line of descent : 

Thomas Fitch, Sr., (son of Thomas, of Booking, in Braintree). 

Thomas Fitch, Jr. (son of Thomas, Sr.) 

“ Mr.” Thomas Fitch (son of Thomas, Jr.) 

Governor Thomas Fitch (son of “Mr.” Thomas Fitch.) • 

Governor Thomas Fitcli therefore, was not the grandson, but 
the great-grandson of Thomas Fitch, Sr., son of Thomas of Book- 
ing. Thomas Fitch, Sr., came from England to America some- 
where between 1635 and 1640, and settled in Norwalk between 
1640 and 1652 He was one of the forefathers of the town, and 
his house lot was north of, but not a great distance from, the 
present grounds of Henry M. Prowitt, Esq. He had five child- 
ren, viz.: Thomas, Jr., John, Ann, Mary, and Mrs. Bur. His 
oldest son, Thomas, Jr., reported in 1671-2, four children. His 
second son, John,* had three children viz. : John, Jr. Rebecca and 
Nathaniel. In the will of the father, Thomas, Sr., who lived to 
extreme age, occurs this passage : ‘ ‘ After great expense in civil 
wars in England, and transportation of myself and family, and 
settling myself in America, and distributing portions to my cliilcl- 

*John Fitch, second son of Thomas Fitch, Sr., and great-uncle of Governor 
Fitch, married a daughter of Nathaniel Richards. Nathaniel Richards came 
to America, in 1632. He went first to Hartford, and from thence removed to 
Norwalk, and was an “important and useful man.” The ship which brought 
the father of the Olmstead’s to these shores, brought hither the Richards’ 
father also, and the two fellow passengers’ home tracts in Norwalk faced each 
other, that of the latter extending from East avenue, (near the present prop- 
erty of Isaac H. Campbell) as far west as to the river. .The Richards descent 
embraces a large family, including the New Canaan and Darien Richards, 
and also the Richards, of Troy, New York. The Fitch-Richards descent 
includes* some of the Brooklyn Parkers, and, by connection, Mrs. Charles S. 
Lockwood, of Norwalk, in whose possession is a small copy of the scriptures 
containing the name, (possibly the autograph) of “Rebekah” (the first Nor- 
walk Rebecca Fitch), and in all probability the same Rebecka who was daugh- 
ter of John Fitch, Sr. The penmanship of the signature is the hand-touch of 
culture, and, evidently, of character. 


' 




91 


ren according to my capacity and ability, that which remaineth in 
my hands (I do) grant and bequeath as followeth : To son John, 
dwelling-house, barn, homelot, land, grain, cattle, horses : to my 
daughter Ann (Mrs. John Thompson, of Farmington) * * * : 
to my daughter Mary (wife of Captain Matthew Sherwood * * 
* * : to my son John’s wife, the linen in the trunk (the old 

transportation trunk, probably) : to my daughters and daughter- 
in-law, one silver spoon each : to my grand children, John and 
Nathaniel (John’s children) * * * * : to grandson John, my 
fowling piece, small gun, belt and sword : to Thomas, my grand- 
child, ONE PARCEL OF LAND IN THE NECK. 

Thomas, Jr., died, it is asserted, in 1690, which was before the 
will was made, and the explanation of the silence of that will 
concerning three of his children, and of the fact that there is no 
other record of them, (as far as the author is able to ascertain,) 
is that they died before reaching man’s estate. Be this as it may, 
one of the family, only one, and he the youngest, is a legatee ; 
this one, “ Thomas . my grandchild ,” was to be parent of a future 
ruler of his Majesty’s colony of Connecticut. “Mr.” Thomas 
Fitch, as he is designated in the old town records, but “Captain” 
Thomas Fitch, as the court at the Capitol denominated him, was 
born in 1671. He early acquired notoriety, being king’s commis- 
sioner in Norwalk from 1691 to 1694, and the honored father, in 
1699, of the son whose destiny it was to be to draft a new consti- 
tution for Yale College, and to frame laws which his sovereign 
pronounced superior, and to attain to the highest office in the 
colony. He had four children : Samuel, the Crown’s Justice, 
from whom loyal children of St. Paul’s sprang ; and Thomas, the 
Governor, who was the ancestor of some of our worthiest citi- 
zens; and James, deputy to the General Assembly ; and Eliza- 
beth. His son, the future chief magistrate, graduated (at the 
twentieth commencement of Yale College, in a class which num- 
bered fourteen members), in 1721, and married, in 1724, Hannah 
Hall, and to them were born ten children, viz., Colonel Thomas, 
Jr., Jonathan, Ebenezer, Hannah, Mary, Timothy, Hezekiah, 
Elizabeth, Esther, and Giles. 

“Colonel” Thomas Fitch, Jr., born in 1725, was an important 
person in the colony. He was Lord George’s Justice from 1761 to 
1772, and was chosen in May, 1768, Lieutenant Colonel of the 
Ninth Regiment. (He had commanded, in 1758, four regiments 
encamped at Greenbush, before Albany, and was the instigator, at 


92 


that time, of the composition of “Yankee Doodle,”* afterward 
adopted as one of our National airs). He was called by the Gov- 
ernor of Connecticut and his Council to join with them in the dis- 
cussion of certain propositions which had been submitted to them, 
by the Royal Commissioners, for trade in Great Britain. He was 
Senior Colonel and commanded the sixteen colonial regiments, “four 
from Connecticut, two from New York, two from New Jersey, and 
eight from Massachusetts, Rhode Island, the provinces or Maine, 
New Hampshire and Vermont.” He had six children, Thomas, 
Andrew, Richard Hall, Sarah, Mary Esther, and Thaddeus Hill. 
(The last died in infancy.) After living out his three score and ten 
years he died, a few days before the death of his wife, and is buried 
at her side, and a few feet distant from his father, beneath a slab 
upon which is the record: 

THOMAS FITCH, ESQ., 

Died Jan. 16th, 1795, 

Age 70. 

Mrs. “Colonel” Thomas Fitch was Miss Sarah St. John Hill, 
daughter of Captain Thomas and Hannah Hill, of Fairfield. But 
one headstone marks the graves of both husband, and wife, and 
nestled near them is a little innocent (named after its mother’s 
brother), whose life-story is graven thus on the mossy stone : 

THADDEUS HILL, 
son of 

THOMAS AND SARAH FITCH, 

died Oct. 21st, 1770, 
aged 11 months. 

Jonathan, the second son of the governor, was two years younger 
than Thomas, but became a man of mark. He was high sheriff 
during a longer period than any one had before held that office, 
and the length of his term has not been exceeded by any of his 
successors. 

Ebenezer, who left home early, and who died at the age of 
thirty-three, gave one son to the army, .in which he rose to the 


*This tune has, by one who is no mean authority, been styled “a native air 
of New England.” It was “composed,” and afterward frequently played by 
the British in contempt of our regiments. But the tables were, on one occa- 
sion, turned. Burgoyne’s five thousand seven hundred and ninety-one cap- 
tured men were compelled to keep step to the strain when, on October 17th 
1777, they stacked their muskets at Saratoga. The “instigator,” not author 
of the tune (that is, the commander of the regiments in derision of whom, 
so it is claimed, the air was arranged, for “horns and fiddles, fifes and 
drums,”) lived near the next corner north of the Earle grounds, on East 
avenue, and now fills a colonial colonel’s grave in the East Norwalk burying 
enclosure. 


93 


rank of Major ; and liad another who was prominent in the civil 
service ; and still another who was the grandfather of a woman of 
superior excellence, and who, at the date of her death (1879), was, 
it is probable, the oldest native resident of Saratoga County, New 
York. Her “ pure life, great intelligence, and strong individuality 
of character, made her the idol of her friends and neighbors.” 
Governor Fitch, very properly, made mention in his last testament 
of Jabez, Ebenezer, Giles, and Hannah, his fatherless grandchil- 
dren. 

Hannah, born in 1731, was the first daughter to gladden the 
parents’ hearts. She bore the name of her New Haven mother, 
but like the delicate sea-pinks which edged her father’s spray- 
besprinkled meadows* “ down in the fields,” she bloomed beauti- 
fully and quickly blanched. She died at the age of fourteen. 

Maey, sixteen months younger than her sister Hannah, married 
at the age of eighteen, and was the mother of Thomas Fitch 
Thatcher, who dwelt, many years ago, on the summit of what the 
fathers called “ Drye Hill,” the first rise beyond the North Center 
school house, and which is now (1886), the site of several pictur- 
esque homes. 

Timothy, the fourth son, was bred, and lived, and was buried in 
Norwalk. He was born in 1735, and married Esther Platt, June 
8th, 1764. Several of his children removed from Norwalk. Wil- 
liam married a Hanford, and took up his residence in the West. 
His children are Judge John Fitch, of Toledo ; Edward, formerly 
of the New York Custom House ; Mrs. Mary Brian, and Mrs. Ann 
Daws. The daughters live in different parts of Ohio. Edvmrd 
married in Norwalk, and went to Troy, New York. He was 
the father of Mrs. Angenette Hall, of that city, and grandfather of 
the Hon. Benjamin H. Hall, and his brothers and sister now resid- 
ing in Troy. Thomas was visited, in 1865, in Ohio, by a relative, 
and found to be in comfortable health at the age of eighty, cared 
for by two sons and one daughter. Hannah married Captain Asar 
Belden,f a member of St. Paul’s Church, who was an officer in the 
Revolutionary war, holding the commission of Captain of Artillery. 
He was with Warren, at Bunker Hill ; with Washington, when he 

*An historian in the eastern part of Connecticut mentions the tradition, 
“that the Fitches always selected their farms beside rivers.” It is notice- 
able that the older Norwalk Fitches purchased largely of water-bordered 
lands. They owned Oyster-Shell Point, Fort Point, Fitch’s Point, Gregory’s 
Point, and around Cow Pasture Point, almost, if not quite, to the Westport 
canal. They owned largely of the islands, also, and Mrs. Col. Thomas Fitch’s 
father made his daughter a present of a good share of Cockenoes island. 

tSee note page 94. 


94 


evacuated New York ; and with Wooster, when he fell, a little dis- 
tance north of Ridgefield street, and he helped to bear the brave 
leader from the field. The home of Hannah and her husband was 
about three miles distant, in a northerly direction, from St. Mat- 
thew’s Church, and the soldier and his partner are buried near the 
grave of her brother Edward, in the yard down town. There 
were two sons Timothy ; one died in childhood, and the second 
was bom in 1769. There were two Nancys, also. Nancy, the first, 
born in 1775, soon died ; Joseph was born in 1777, and Nancy, 2d. 
w r as born in 1781. She married Thomas Hart Taylor, of Westport. 
From Charles, born in 1790, and who married Miss Anna Nash, 
descended Betsey (Mrs. Jacob Scribner, of Wilton), Sally Ann (Mrs. 
Charles Fox), Timothy B., of Norwalk, (who married Anna E. 
Stephens, of North Stamford), and William, who was unmarried 
and died West. And when fails the remembrance of Esther (Mrs 
Samuel M. Fitch), and of Sally (Mrs. Jabez Raymond), two fond 
old-time Norwalk memories will have faded. Simplicity of manner, 
and genuine geniality of nature, and hospitality such as these sis- 
ters possessed and dispensed, made life a poem. 


Hezekiah, the Governor’s fifth son, married into a branch of 
the Fairfield family, which entertained such colonial gentry as 
General La Fayette, Benjamin Franklin, and Timothy Dwight ; a 
family which Trumbull visited, and the members of which saluted 
John Hancock when he was wedded within their residence ; 
‘‘the coiffures, sprinkled with diamond dust, the long-waisted 
gowns, the shimmer of silks and satins, the ribbons, laces and 
ruffles, the gems that sparkled on wrists and bosoms, the glossy 
queues, the plum colored coats and velvet small clothes, the white 
silk stockings, the elaborate ruffles at wrists and throat,” making 
the occasion a memorable one ; and the same circle, sorrowing 
with the stricken, when in the same home lay Madame Hancock, 


tCaptain Asar Belden’s first wife was sister of the late Levi Taylor, of Wil- 
ton, and their children were William (Yale graduate); Charles and Joseph, 
hoth of whom died young; Lewis and Benjamin, physicians in New York 
City; Daniel, a resident of Brockport, N. Y. ; and Annie, who married Noah, 
father of the late lamented Samuel E. Olmstead, of St. Paul’s vestry. The 
children by his second wife (Hannah Fitch) were George F, and Platt Belden. 
Platt removed to the state of New York. The children of George F. were, the 
late George F., Jr., (who married Louisa Cornwall), and Mr. Henry H. Belden 
of Westport. Captain Asar Belden was brother of the Rev. David Belden, a 
former presbyter of the church who officiated in Wilton. At a parish meet- 
ing held in November, 1796, steps were taken to secure the Rev. Mr. Belden’s 
services for St. Paul’s, until Dr. Wm. Smith’s arrival. Rev. David Belden’s 
sons were, John A. (father of Nathan M. Belden, now of the Connecticut Leg- 
islature, and a resident of Wilton) and David H. Belden, of Newtown, whose 
sons Reuben and Howard, are at present engaged in an extensive business in 
this country and Australia. John Arms, and David H. Belden had several sis- 
ters: one of whom is Mrs. Tweedy, of Danbury. 


95 


shrouded for burial. One of the later descendants of the family 
became the wife of the late Morris Ketchum. 

Elizajbeth Fitch, who was born in 1738, and who married 
Andrew Rowland, of Fairfield, was the brave woman who, in 
1779, when the shot was flying thick and Fairfield was oil fire, 
remained alone in her dwelling, and facing the foe, asked for pro- 
tection. This heroine, brought up under the now spreading elm, 
on East avenue, which her father planted, and who has been pro- 
nounced “an accomplished lady,” calmly sleeps in her husband’s 
town, and a stone in the yard hard by Fairfield’s charming street, 
informs the stranger that — 

ELIZABETH ROWLAND, 

The widow of Andrew Rowland, Esq., 
and daughter of the late Governor Fitch, 
of this State, died March 29th, 1825, 
in her 87th year. 

The founder of her husband’s family came to Fairfield in 1669. 
Andrew Rowland was of the third generation from Henry the 
settler. He died twenty-three years before his wife, and one 
item, which he by will bequeathed, was an “estate lying south of 
Lake Erie, and conveyed by grant, by the General Assembly, to 
me and others, of one-half million acres of land.” The fine 
Rowland residence, which is to-day such an ornament to the Fair- 
field street, is the home of one of Andrew and Elizabeth Row- 
land’s descendants. 

The Governor’s youngest daughter, Esther, lived only twenty - 
nine summers. She was unmarried, and her dust, with that of 
Giles, who was taken away at two years of age, is garnered close 
by that of her celebrated parent and brother in the highly -to-be 
venerated burial ground, down town, a ground which will always, 
it is to be hoped, be respectably and respectfully protected and 
preserved by the authorities of this ancient town. 

This memorandum is confined to the descent in this country, and 
more especially in this part of the country, of the family for 
remarks pertaining to which these last leaves of the appendix are 
reserved. That there are those who claim for the Fitch fathers 
abroad, baronial connection and the dignities of knighthood, is no 
secret, but investigation as to such particulars would be foreign to 
the design of these pages. There are recitals, of interest to many, 
perhaps, who have been referred to in the previous lines, which 


96 


would be entirely legitimate in a work of less restricted scope. The 
author’s departure, in this addendum, from the plan of the work, a 
plan which has for its object the perpetuation of parish memories, 
is because of the pride which, as a citizen of Norwalk, he has felt 
in this matter. One, quoted before, thus moralizes over the ina- 
bility to obtain, in one of its birth places, and that one this town, 
reliable information concerning this same family: “Sic transit 
gloria mundi: so soon pass out of human sight all traces of family 
greatness, in the very places where those who bore its honors 
highest carved their names the deepest.” It may be, it is, un- 
doubtedly, often so, but in this instance not altogether so, 
happily. At all events, the writer asks that credit be given his 
native town for the preservation of at least a few of the links 
in the pedigree-chain of that family, the Norwalk head of which 
(Thomas Fitch, Sr.,) was the great-grandparent of one of the most 
eminent executives of the company and colony of Connecticut, 
and the grand-uncle of one (Major James Fitch) who contributed 
the glass and furnished the nails for the only building which con- 
stituted the original Yale College, and the great granduncle of 
John Fitch, the inventor of the first steamboat. He is indebted 
to the Hon. John Fitch, of New York, for the interest which he has 
manifested, and for the confirmation from his pen as to the rank, 
and fame, and fortune to which many of the Fitch descent have 
attained. The family is one of the largest in the United States, and 
numbers among its members citizens of high repute, and from 
remote sections; Hon. Graham N. Fitch, M. D., of Indiana; Con- 
gressman Thomas Fitch, of Nevada; Lieutenant General Jabez, 
and Judge John Fitch, of Ohio; Lieutenant Colonel Fitch, of 
California; President Fitch, of Williams College; Judge Fitz- 
Gaines, and Drs. S. S. and Almeron Fitch, of New York; Colonel 
Asa Fitch, of Connecticut; Mayor William Fitch, of New Haven; 
the Fitches, of Fitchville; and the Norwich and the Willimantic 
Fitches. And it is not only one of the largest, it is one of the 
oldest families in the country, and the respective genealogies of 
its different branches, which some of the name may possibly be 
disposed to attempt, would be a work of peculiar interest, and, in 
some sense, of national importance. 

The centenary of Governor Fitch’s death (July 18th, 1874) was 
made the occasion (an entirely private one,) of the reading, to his 
comrades, of an historical paper, by the late Albert Burr Wright, 
of Princeton College, New Jersey; and after the beating of 
“Retreat” at the tomb, at close of day, the wreath of white, which 


hacl since morning encircled the inscription upon the tablet, was 
sent to a great-granddaughter of the governor, one of his oldest 
and nearest Norwalk family survivors, the late Miss Mary Esther 
Raymond, who was attended in her last sickness, in 1881, and 
buried after her decease, by the rector of St. Paul’s. 

By the will of Governor Fitch, made March 8th, 1774, his wife 
was to have the use of the house, lot and buildings during 
her life. Her oldest son, Colonel Thomas, Jr., seems to have had 
the care of his widowed mother and occupied the house (his own 
homestead bequeathed to him by his father was what is now the 
Hendricks property) until his death, which occurred eight days 
before that of his wife, in the winter of 1795. It ought to be 
remembered that while Governor Fitch’s house was burned by the 
British, yet that a portion of the building was saved, and that this 
possibly was re-built and re-occupied. After the parents’ removal 
by death, Thomas Fitch (Colonel Thomas’ son), disposed of the 
property to Samuel M. Fitch, who married the governor’s grand- 
daughter, Esther, (second cousin to her husband; Esther’s father 
was Timothy, son of the governor; Samuel’s father was Daniel, a 
nephew of the governor.) Samuel and Esther Fitch took posses- 
sion of their new home on the very evening of their marriage, and 
immediately after the ceremony in the bride’s father’s house, 
which stood opposite to the present residence of Mr. Jabez Fitch 
Raymond. Here the two passed their wedded lives, brought up 
children and grandchildren, and finally died, the wife at the age 
of seventy -four, and the husband at the age of eighty -seven. The 
title to the property now lies with their granddaughter, Mrs. 
Elizabeth (Fitch) Bowen, of Montreal, Canada. 

Josiah Hanford Fitch (son of Jonathan, who was son of Samuel, 
the brother of Governor Fitch) was father of the late Mrs. Samuel 
Daskam, a much beloved communicant of St. Paul’s church, and 
of her brothers, Lewis and Horace Fitch, of New Haven, the for- 
mer being the father of the Rev. William Fitch, of Brooklyn, 
Long Island, and theTatter having for many years been an officer 
in St. Thomas parish, (Rev. Dr. E. E. Beardsley, rector,) New 
Haven. 

This same Josiah Hanford Fitch went to the Norwalk forests, 
on the last day of April, 1816, and, after selecting several healthy 
maples, planted them along East avenue, and they became the 
towering trees which stand before the residence of Winfield S. 
Moody, Esq. Josiali’s father was a Yale graduate, and his mother 


was a Miss Deborah Hanford, aunt of the late Joseph P. Hanford, 
selectman for a number of terms of Norwalk, and who was the 
father of the late Winfield Scott Hanford, church warden. 
Daniel Fitch, another son of Samuel, and brother of Eliza- 
beth (Mrs. Nehemiah Rogers), and nephew of the governor, 
wap grandfather of Mrs. James Mallory and Mrs. Stephen Ray- 
mond. Their father, Jonathan Fitch, (son of Daniel,) married 
Sarah, daughter of James Cannon, and sister of Esther, (Mrs. 
William St. John), and Amelia (Mrs. Garrett Harson Newkirk,) 
and Mary (Mrs. George Lockwood.) Jonathan Fitch had two 
brothers, viz., Samuel M., and Henry. The three brothers dwelt 
near each other, in houses which are now standing, and in each 
of which, three generations of each family have resided. Daniel, 
their father, died several years before the death of Rebecca, their 
mother. 

James Fitch, the remaining brother of Governor Thomas and 
Samuel, married Mary, the widow of Jedediah Buckingham. The 
Buckinghams, it would appear, were from Saybrook; but Mrs. 
Jedediah Buckingham, was Mary, daughter of William Haynes, of 
Norwalk. James, son of James, married, in 1746, Ann Hanford, 
and had five children. Mrs. Ann H. Fitch died in 1768, and Mr. 
Fitch married for his second wife Esther Marvin. James, son 
of James, 2d., by his first wife, married Esther Camp. Ann Han- 
ford was the daughter of Elnathan Hanford, and Esther Camp 
was the late Jonathan Camp’s aunt. So that the Fitch-Hanford 
connection is through two, and the Fitch-Camp connection 
through one of Governor Fitch’s brothers. 

Mr. Harvey Fitch, of St. Paul’s, (1886) is a descendant of a 
grandson of Samuel, the brother of Thomas (Governor) Fitch. 

A granddaughter of Governor Fitch married Stephen St. John, 
of Norwalk, nephew of one of Governor Jonathan Trumbull’s 
brother’s closest friends. This intimate of the talented Dr. John 
Trumbull was a young member, (Mr. Buckingham St John) of 
much promise, of one of the families of Norwalk, and a tutor, in 
1770, in Yale College. He was lost on Long Island Sound, during 
his passage between New Haven and Norwalk, and Dr. Trumbull’s 
tribute to his memory begins thus: 


The world now yields to nights returning sway, 

The deeper gloom leads on the solemn hour, 

And calls my steps, beneath the moon’s pale ray, 

To roam in sadness on the sea-beat shore. 

* * * * * * * * * * 
The “ elegy” thus continues : 

“ The faithless morning on our opening sails 

Smiled out serene, and smoothed our gliding way, 
While the gay vessel fanned, by breathing gales, 
Play’d on the placid bosom of the sea. 

When lo, descending on the darkening wind, 

Burst the dire storm — and feeble to sustain 
The rushing blasts in warring fury joined, 

The frail skiff sinks beneath the surging main. 

And see, afar the oarless boat conveys 
The rescued sailors to the distant shore : 

Alone, of aid bereft, with one last gaze, 

I sunk in deeps, and sunk to rise no more. 

* ** ******* 
Ah, what availed that energy of mind, 

The heights of science and of arts t’ explore, 

That early led, where genius unconfined 

Spreads her glad feast and opes her classic store. 

Ah, what availed, in earthly bliss so frail, 

The fame gay -dawning on thy rising years ! 

Ah, what avail’d — for what could then avail ? 

Th^ friends’ deep sorrow or thy country’s tears ; 
** **** **** 
Adieu, my friend ! so dear in vain, adieu, 

Till some short days their fleeting courses roll ; 
Soon shall our steps thine earlier fate pursue, 

Moved in the race and crowding to the goal. 
********** 
Then, joined in bliss, as once in friendship joined, 
May pitying heaven our purer spirits raise, 

Each crime atoned, each virtue well refined, 

To pass a blest eternity of praise.” 


Mr. Stephen St. John belonged to a Norwalk family of past and 
present repute. He was a business man of the town, and his life- 
day was a protraated one. He died suddenly, upon the grounds 
of his brother-in-law, Isaac Scudder Isaacs. Mrs. St. John was 
sister (so it is supposed), of Captain Hall Fitcli, a resident of 
Norwalk, and later of Troy, New York, and aunt to Mrs. Albert 
P. Heartt, of the Philip Heartt family of the latter city.* Mrs. 
Angenatte Hall (daughter of Edward, grandson of Governor 
Fitch, of Norwalk, and wife of Daniel Hall, of Troy), was second 
cousin of Mrs. St. John. Mr. and Mrs. St. John had two daugh- 
ters, Henrietta and Julia Ann. Henrietta married and removed 
to Troy. Julia Ann was the first Mrs. Horace Gibbs, of Norwalk. 
John Cannon, Jr., of St. Paul’s, married Sarah, (sister of Stephen) 
St. John, who was the mother of Antoinette (Mrs. Senator Betts) 
and her sisters Sarah, Harriett and Esther Mary, and their 


*This city, seated advantageously at the head of navigation on the Hudson, 
attracted, at the close of the past, and during the first quarter of the present 
century, a number of emigrants from Norwalk. These were an element of 
strength in the new city, and contributed, in no small measure, to its wax- 
ing prosperity. Bouton, Cannon, Craft, Kellogg, and Warren have been, and 
are names of influence and of dignity in Troy. Those who left Norwalk were 
kinsfolk, and, previous to their departure, were attached to St. Paul’s. The 
parents (Esaias and Phebe Bouton) of several of them were of deserved repu- 
tation in their native parish. The father’s (Esaias Bouton) descent is alluded 
to in a note on page forty, and his wife, who was from Massachusetts, was a 
descendant of one of the New England governors, (Hopkins), and bore the 
name (so the Norwalk relatives contended) of the governor’s daughter, Phebe. 
This daughter married into a Massachusetts Bay family, one branch of which 
chose Norwalk for its home. Among the children of this branch was Phebe 
(Mrs. Esaias Bouton). They made large purchases of land in Norwalk. Moses 
Byxbee, one of the number, and a member of St. Paul’s, invested to the 
amount of several thousand dollars in one plot. The original home was near 
the summit of Flax Hill, and perhaps no better fruit was ever grown in the 
county than that which grew in the orchards which belonged to this home. 
Esaias Bouton, a not remote neighbor, married Phebe, a daughter. Eliakim 
Warren from the same vicinity, married their (Esaias and Phebe Bouton’s) 
daughter. These were the two (Eliakim and Phebe Warren), who were the 
parents of the Warren family of Troy. The husband (St. Paul’s vestryman 
who has before been alluded to) was the first church warden in Troy, and his 
excellent wife took a deep interest in church matters, and was unremitting 
in efforts to insure the success of the earliest parish planted in the thriving 
city of their adoption. 

The Cannon and Craft ancestors, as before mentioned, were among the 
most respected and reliable of St. Paul’s early members. LeGrand Cannon 
and Mrs. Moses Craft were brother and sister, and went to Troy about the 
same time. They were children of Samuel, and grandchildren of Commodore 
Cannon. The brother married a daughter of Nathan Bouton, and sister of 
Mrs. Nathan Warren, of Troy. The children of LeGrand Cannon were the 
late Mrs. John B. Tibbitts and the present Mrs. George H. Cramer, of Troy, 
and LeGrand B. Cannon, and Mrs. George Bird, of New York. The children 
of Mrs. Moses Craft were the late Mrs. Sarah Murray, of New York, and the late 
Mrs. G. Parish Ogden, and the present Mrs. Hannibal Green, of Troy. The 
parents attended the mother St. Paul’s of Troy, as the Warrens, and Boutons, 
and Kelloggs did; and, their pews in the church being in proximity to each 
other, they pleasantly, among themselves, designated the portion of the edifice 
occupied by them, as “Norwalk.” The grandchildren of Eliakim and Phebe 
Warren, now living, are : Doctor Nathan B. Warren and his brother Stephen, 
who reside upon the Mount Ida estate, and their brother, George Henry, whose 
residence is in New York City, and Hon. Joseph M. Warren, and his brother, 
John Hobart Warren, of Troy. 


% 







101 


brothers John, George, Charles, and James. One of George 
Cannon’s two daughters married a Jones, of Wilton, the other 
married the Rev. Charles J. Todd (brother of the Rev. Dr. 
Ambrose Todd, of Stamford), formerly rector of St. Matthew’s 
church, Wilton. George Cannon’s son, George, took up his 
residence in the west, and was the father of the first wife of the 
Rev. William G. Spencer, D. D., rector for a number of years of 
Trinity church, South Norwalk. 


Different descendants of Governor Fitch have taken pains to 
properly preserve the memory of their ancestor. Judge John 
Fitch, of New York, set out, some time since, the elm trees which 
stand near the governor’s tomb. J udge Fitch, of Ohio, is not 
uninterested in the matter. A small volume of family names has 
been published. The governor’s library, diplomas, and household 
effects were probably destroyed when the town was burned. The 
enemy made such dispatch of their work that inmates in one 
instance had scarcely time to throw the family silver into the well 
before quiting their home. The original draft of one of the gov- 
ernor’s proclamations is held by a Wilton member of the family, 
and an attached member of St. Paul’s, now gone, kept, during her 
life time, a seal, and one or two articles of jewelry which her 
great-grandfather, Thomas, wore. These have been bequeathed 
to a descendant, a former pupil in the East Norwalk school, but 
now a subject of Queen Victoria. The antiquated tea kettle which 
swung and sung upon the antiquated crane in the chimney, the 
foundation of which is shown to-day, is still in existence. 


The direct descendants of Governor Fitch, known in our own 
time and town, and who have not before been named, are the chil- 
dren and grandchildren of the governor’s granddaughters, Sally, 
(Mrs. Jabez Raymond,) and Esther, (Mrs. Samuel M. Fitch.) 
Jabez and Sally (Fitch) Raymond had three children, viz. : George, 
Platt and Mary Esther. George has no children; Mary Esther 
was unmarried; Platt left one son, (the only grandchild of Mr. 
and Mrs. Jabez Raymond,) Mr. Jabez Fitch Raymond, who occu- 
pies the Raymond family homestead. The children of Esther, 
(Mrs. Samuel M. Fitch,) were Betsey, (Mrs. David Roberts,) Ed- 
ward Fitch, (of Glens Falls, N. Y.,) and Samuel Marvin Fitch, of 
Norwalk. The grandchildren of Samuel and Esther Fitch, were 
William E., and Henry R., and Rebecca, (Mrs. Burr Knapp,) of 


102 


South Norwalk; ancl Emily, (Mrs. William Mallory,) Elizabeth, 
(Mrs. James Bowen,) Edson, of Quebec, George, Thomas, and 
Sarah. The home of the last is with her mother in Saugatuck. 


FINIS. 

St. Paul’s parish is now one hundred and fifty years old, and the 
history of these years is full of facts of interest and importance. 
The better preservation of some of these has been one of the author’s 
objects in the preparation of this address, with its notes and appen- 
dix. The work is not without its imperfections ; but the writer in 
retiring asks the forbearance of the reader. 










Index to Foot Notes and Appendix 


A 


Abbott, Jonathan, 

PAGE 

55 

Aiken, Henrietta 

PAGE 

72 

Abbott, Charles, 

55 

Allen, Mrs. Captain, . 

72 

Abbott, Stephen, 

60 

Allen, Lucy, 

58 

Adams, Elizabeth, 

18 

Ambler, James L., 

61 

Adams, Charles, 

55-59 

Atherton, Jonathan, 

81 

Adams, Daniel, . ' . 

60 

Atwater, Rev. Henry S., 

.17-78-89 

Adams, Aaron, . 

60-62 

Atwill, William, . 

, 70 

Adams, Isaac, 

64 

Austin, Alfred E., 

. 42 

Adams, Rev. Charles G., 

77 

Ayres, Ebenezer, 

. 59 

Ady, Barbara, 

61 

Ayres, Mrs. Ebenezer . 

58 

Bailey, Mrs. Henry, 

B 

PAGE 

25-59 

Belden, Amelia, . 

PAGE 

.16-49-72 

Bailey, Mary H., 

59 

Belden, John, 

.33-60-68 

Bailey, General, 

44 

Belden, Samuel, 2d, 

. 33-60 

Baird, Catherine, 

63-72 

Belden, John. 2d., 

.33-37-49 

Baird, Nellie, 

63 

Belden, Hezekiah, 

.49-60-81 

Balcolm, Mrs. Harry, . 

78 

Belden, William, 

. 33-94 

Baldwin, Mrs. Hon. Simeon, . 

42 

Belden, Mary Esther, . 

. 33-49 

Banks, Bradley 0., 

72 

Belden, Isaac, . 

33-37-40-49 

Banks, Mrs. Bradley 0., 

63 

Belden, Sarah, . 

33 

Banks, John, 

81 

Belden, Henry, . 

33-36-49-67 

Barlow, W. A., 

56-64 

Belden, Amos, 1 

. 33-86 

Barlow, Mrs., 

62 

Belden, Mrs. Isaac, 

62 

Barnes, Mrs. S. H., 

80 

Belden, Margaret, 

. 49-72 

Barnum, Henrietta, 

56-58 

Belden, Esther, 

56 

Barry, Rev. Dr., . 

18-21 

Belden, George F., 

94 

Barraclough, Mrs. Benjamin, 

72 

Belden, George F. Jr., . 

94 

Bartram, D. Starr, 

12 

Belden, Mrs. George F., 

57 

Bartlett, John, . 

33-49 

Belden, Platt, 

94 

Bartlett, Rebecca, 

33 

Belden, Henry H., 

94 

Bates, Walter, 

56-58 

Belden, Captain Azar, . 

. 93-94 

Baxter, Mrs. William, . 

72 

Belden, Rev. David 

.81-83-94 

Beatty Bros., 

37 

Belden, John A., 

94 

Beatty, Mrs. John P., . 

72 

Belden, Nathan M., 

. 81-94 

Beatty, Samuel, . 

78 

Belden, Rev. Charles M., 

83 

Beardsley, Rev. Dr. E. E., 14-75-76-77-97 

Belden, Reuben, 

94 

Beard, A. E., 

38 

Belden, Howard, 

94 

Beardsley, Mrs. S. B., . 

57 

Belden, Charles, 

94 

Beebe, Abel, 

56-56 

Belden, Joseph, . 

94 

Beebe, Linus L., 

58 

Belden, Lewis, . 

94 

Beers, Nathan . 

36 

Belden, Benjamin, 

94 

Beers, Mrs. Nathan, 

72 

Belden, Annie, . 

94 

Beers, Mrs. Edwin, 

65 

Belden, Daniel, . 

94 

Beers, Mrs. George, 

65 

Bell, Isaac, 

45 

Beers, Anthony, . 

81 

Bell, Hannah, 

45 

Beers, John, 

81 

Bell, Catharine, . 

45 

Beers, John, Jr., 

81 

Benedict, James, 

37 

Beers, Jonathan, 

55 

Benedict, George, 

40 

Beers, Alfred, 

55 

Benedict, Thomas, 

. 47-88 

Beers, Mary, 

57 

Bennett, J. F., 

. 56-58 

Belden, Thomas, 8-11-32-33-49-60-81 

Bennett, Henry, 

. 56-58 

Belden, Samuel, . .11-33-49 

Bennett, Margaret, 

59 

Belden, Betsey, . 

11 

Bennett, Hezekiah, 

64 

Belden, Frederick, 

11 

Bennett, Nancy E., 

59 

Belden, Hon. George 0., 

11 

Bennett, Mrs. Lewis, . 

59 

Belden, Anne Eliza, 

11 

Betts, Dr., 

13 

Belden, Minerva A., 

11 

Betts, Stephen, . 

26 


104 



PAGE 


PAGE 

Betts, Mrs. Stephen, 

.14-60-62 

Bonham, Rev. J. W., 

77 

Betts, Ann, 

26 

Boult, Ruah, 

57 

Betts, Thaddeus, 

26-27-47-58 

Boult, David, 

57-60-63-64 

Betts, Charles 0. C., 

. 31-58 

Boult, Ruth, 

68 

Betts, Frederick T., 

. 58-84 

Boult, Jacob, 

64 

Betts, Mrs. Frederick T., 

59 

Boult, Ann, 

64 

Betts, LeGrand C., 

. 31-78 

Boult, Ebenezer, 

64 

Betts, Thomas, . 

40 

Boult, Charles, . 

64 

Betts, Juliette, . 

40 

Bowden, Dr. John, 

. 10-78 

Betts, Harriet, . 

40 

Bowen, Mrs. James, 

. 97-106 

Betts, Maltby, 

. 56-58 

Brady, Thomas, 

.63-64-72 

Betts, William, . 

64 

Brady, Sally Ann, 

. 63-72 

Betts, William M., 

64 

Brady, James, . 

64 

Betts, James, 

81 

Brady, Mrs James, 

63 

Betts, Allen, 

. 79-80 

Bradley, George H.. 

18 

Betts, A. Carmi, . 

78 

Bradley, Theodocia, 

41 

Betts, Miss Ada, 

80 

Brian, Mary, 

92 

Betts, Antoinette, 

100 

Brotherton, Lavinia, 

80 

Bigelow, Rebecca, 

58 

Brower, Isaac V., 

59 

Bissell, Governor, 

8 

Brower, Charles De H., 

59 

Bissell, Emery C., 

13 

Brooks, Lemuel, 

.27-60-67 

Bishop of Exeter, 

51 

Brown, James, 

7-52-85-86-87 

Bishop of Carlisle, 

51 

Brown, Elisha, . 

87 

Bishop of London, 

59 

Brown, Isaac, 

87 

Bishop, Mrs. Benjamin, 

62 

Brown, John, 

87 

Bishop, George G., 

62 

Brown, Ruth, 

87 

Bird, Mrs. George, 

100 

Brown, Mary, 

85 

Blaine, Hon. James G., 

30 

Brownell, Bishop, 

. 28-65 

Bolton, Rev. Robert, 

7-8 

Bryan, Dr. Richard, 

37 

Bouton, John, 

.40-52-61 

Bryan, Ann, . . 

72 

Bouton, Matthew 

. 40-100 

Bryan, Maria, 

72 

Bouton, Jakin, . 

40 

Bryan, Sophia, . 

72 

Bouton, Joseph, 

40 

Buckingham, Mary, 

98 

Bouton, Esaias, 40-52-55-60-61-64-100 

Bullard, Hannah F., 

41 

Bouton, Mrs. Esaias, . 

100 

Burgoyne, General 

92 

Bouton, Nathan, 

. 40-61 

Bur, Mrs., 

90 

Bouton, Stephen, 

. 40-61 

Burwell, Mary, . 

60 

Bouton, Dr. George B., 

40 

Burwell, Nathan, 

81 

Bouton, Elizabeth, 

53 

Bush, David, 

86 

Bouton, Phebe, . 

53-55-100 

Butler, Thomas R., 

13 

Bouton, Samuel, 

. 55-64 

Butterworth, Henry, 

72 

Bouton, Eunice, 

55 

Byxbee, Moses, . 

100 

Bouton, Joshua, 

. 60-64 

Byxbee, Phebe, . 

100 

Bouton, Hannah, 

60 

r '« 

Byxbee, Ella, 

80 


L./ 

PAGE 


PAGE 

Camp, R. H. Jr., . 

.14-62-63 

Camp, Anna, 

62 

Camp, Eliza, 

. 14-63 

Camp, Harriet, . 

62 

Camp, Margaret, 

. 14-63 

Camp, William, . 

62 

Camp, Jonathan, . 40-60-61-68-81 

Camp, Hannah, . 

62 

Camp, Jonathan, 2d., . 

60 

Camp, S. R. P. 

63 

Camp, Jonathan, 3d., . 

. 56-60 

Camp, Nettie, 

64 

Camp, Jonathan, 4th., 24-35-60-61-63 

Camp, Mary E., . 

64 

64-70-72-89-98. 


Camp, Mary, 

68 

Camp, Jonathan, 5th., . 

. 35-61 

Camp, Mrs. Isaac, 

72 

Camp, Mrs. Jonathan, 3d., 

61 

Camp, Julia, 

72 

Camp, Mrs. Jonathan, 4th. 

, .16-30-57 

Camp, Rev. C. C., 

77 

Camp, Abraham, 

56-60-61-62 

Camp, Catharine, 

80 

Camp, Richard, 

56-60-61-62 

Camp, Gertrude, 

80 

Camp, Susan, 

58 

Campbell, I. H., 

90 

Camp, Isaac, 

. 60-61-62 

Caner, Rev. Henry, 

. 78-81-84 

Camp, Ann, 

. 60-61 

Caner, Rev. Richard, 

78-84 

Camp, Samuel Jarvis, . 

. 61-64-67 

Cannon, Commodore, 

30-31-37-85-100 

Camp, Lemuel, . 

61-62 

Cannon, Peter, . 

30 

Camp, Mrs. Lemuel, 

62 

Cannon, Samuel, 

. 30-33 

Camp, Stephen, . 

61 

Cannon, James, . 

. 30-61 

Camp, Hannah, . 

61 

Cannon, John, 

. 30-31 

Camp, Esther, 

. 61-98 

Cannon, John, Jr., 

31-60-100 

Camp, Isaac, Jr., 

62 

Cannon, LeGrand, 

54-60-100 

Camp, Seth, 

62 

Cannon, LeGrand B., 

. 31-100 


105 



PAGE 


PAGE 

Cannon, James LeGrand, 

31 

Coit. Dr. T. W., . 

. 65 

Cannon, Harriet Starr 

31 

Coit, Dr. Gurdon, 

65 

Cannon, Esther, 

57 

Colt, Elizabeth H., 

34 

Cannon, Sarah, . 

. 98-100 

Coley, Rev. James E. 

. 76-77 

Cannon, Harriet, 

It 0 

Collins, Samuel, 

58 

Cannon, Esther Mary, . 

100 

Comstock, John, 

11 

Cannon, John, . 

101 

Comstock, Mr. 

11 

Cannon, George, 

101 

Copley, 

11 

Cannon, Charles, 

101 

Copp, John, 

33 

Cannon, James, . 

101 

Cornell Mrs. 

58 

Calkins, Frances M., 

41 

Cornwall, William, 

. 56-57-64 

Carpenter, Senator, 

20 

Cornwall, Mrs. William, 

72 

Cato, (Slave), 

52 

Cornwall Thomas, 

. 24.51 57 

Chase, Mrs. Henry, 

63 

Cornwall, Grove. 

57-64 

Church, Betsey, 

. 14-41 

Cornwall, Josiah, 

. 57-64 

Church, Ruth, . 

26 

Cornwall, George, 

57 

Church, Ebenezer, 

60 

Cornwall, John, . 

57 

Church, Samuel, 

72 

Cornwall, Robert, 

57 

Church, Mrs. Samuel, . 

. 63-72 

Cowles, George R., 

54 

Church, Frederick, 

72 

Craft, Mrs. Moses 

100 

Church, Mrs. Ebezener, 

72 

Cram, George W , 

88 

Church, Isaac, . 

72 

Cramer, Mrs George H , 

100 

Clark, Mrs. 

48 

Crane, Clarissa . 

59 

Clark, Flavms, . 

84 

Crane, Thaddeus, Sr., . 

59 

Clarke, Rev. Sylvester. 

77 

Crawford, Milton, 

16 

Clapp, Rev. Howard S., 24-75-76-77-78-80 

Craw, Mrs Laura, 

72 

Clapp, Marjorie, 

45 

Croes, Pishop, 

21 

Clinton, Sir Henry, 

27 

Croswell, Dr. Harry 

65 

Clinton, Levi, 

63 

Croswell, Rev William, 

12 

Clock, Charles N., 

. 56 

Crowley, James, 

62 

Clock, Mrs. Charles N., 

63 

Curtiss, Lewis, . 

37 

Cluckston, Samuel, 

44 

Curtiss, Eliza, 

72 


D 



PAGE 


PAGE 

Dann, Mrs Wallace, 

80 

DeKlyn, C. B., 

37 

Darrow, Mrs Anna, 

59 

Demarest, David, Mrs., 

59 

Darrow, George, 

80 

Denton, Mrs. Hart, 

58 

Daskam, Samuel, 

56-57 

Dibble, Wakefield, 

8 

Daskam, Mrs Samuel, 

. 43-72-97 

Dibble, Dr Ebenezer, . 

. 8-52-78 

Daskam, Theodicia, 

18 

Dibble, Ebenezer, Jr.. . 

9 

Daskam. William, 

. 56-57 

Dibble. Rev Frederick, 

9 

Daskam, James, 

57 

Dimon, Elizabeth, 

36 

Daskam, Harriet F., 

57 

Dimon, Mr. 

64 

Dauchy, Jacob, . 

62 

Dunlap, Rev. MB, 

77 

Daws, Mrs Ann, . 

93 

Dwight, Timothy Dr., . 

. 47-94 

Day, Mrs. President, 

42 

Dyer, (slave,) 

52 


E 



PAGE 



PAGE 

Eckford, Amanda, 

72 

Elwood, Mr. 


56-59 

Edwards, Benjamin, 

. 16-17 

Evarts, Hon. W M. and Mrs. Mabel, 42 

Ells, Mrs. Robert, 

72 

Everett, R. John, 


17 


F 





PAGE 



PAGE 

Fairchild, Chloe, 

57 

Fitch, Thomas, Sr., 


90-96 

Fairweather, Hanford, 

60 

Fitch, Thomas, Jr., 


. 90-91 

Fairweather, Joseph, . 

63 

Fitch, Mr Thomas, 


90-91 

Fatliergill, Rev. M. M., . 

77 

Fitch, Governor, 41-43-61-88-90-91-93-95 

Fenton, Mrs Dr., 

63 

96-97-98-100-101 



Ferris, Mrs Col., 

72 

Fitch, Col Thomas, 

37-85-88-91-92-97 

Ferry, Miss, 

64 

Fitch, Mrs Col. Thomas, 

. 92-93 

Fillow, Mrs Rufus. 

80 

Fitch. Jonathan, 

31-43-91-92-97-98 

Finch, Brothers, 

41 

Fitch, Ebenezer, 


91-62-93 

Finney, James, . * 

. 19-56-64 

Fitch, Hannah, 

. 

91-92-93 

Finney, Rev LeGrand, 

19-83 

Fitch, Mary, 

. 

. 91-93 

Finney, Charles, 

64 

Fitch, Timothy, . 

. 

. 91-93-94 

Finney, Harriet, 

72 

Fitch, Hezekiah, 

• 

91-94 


Fitch, Elizabeth, 

PAGE 

41-44-91-95-98 

Fitch, William, . 


PAGE 

93-96 

Fitch, Esther, 

. 91-95-97 

Fitch, Judge John, 

93-96-101 

Fitch, Giles, 

91-93 

Fitch, Edward, . 

93-94-100 

Fitch, Thomas, . 42-44-47-90-93-97-102 

Fitch, Nancy, 


94 

Fitch, Samuel, 41-43-44-45-91-97-98 

Fitch, Charles, . 


99 

Fitch, Samuel M., 

58-94-97-98 

Fitch, Timothy B , 


94 

Fitch, Mrs Samuel M , 

. 94-101 

Fitch, Major James, 


94 

Fitch, John, 

. 41-91-96 

Fitch Hon John, 


96 

Fitch, Joseph, 

41-90 

Fitch, Graham N , 


96 

Fitch, Nathaniel, 

41-44 81-90-91 

Fitch, Lieutenant-Co'onel, 


96 

Fitch, Lindall, . 

41-81 

Fitch, Congressman Thomas, 

96 

Fitch, Platt, 

41 

Fitch, General Jabez, . 


96 

Fitch, Joseph Platt, 

41 

Fitch, Colonel, . 


96 

Fitch, Stephen, . 

41 

Fitch, President, 


96 

Fitch, Bushnell, . 

41 

Fitch, Dr S S , . 


96 

Fitch, James, 

43-61-91-98 

Fitch, Almeron, . 


96 

Fitch, Rachel, 

42 

Fitch, Colonel Asa, 


96 

Fitch, Sherman, . 

43 

Fitch, Major William, . 


96 

Fitch, Daniel, 

. 43-97-98 

Fitch, Horace, 


97 

Fitch, Elizabeth (Raymond,) . 43 

Fitch, Mrs Horace, 


62 

Fitch, Susan, 

43 

Fitch, Rev William, . 1 


97 

Fitch, Henry, 

48-98 

Fitch, Alice, 


64-80 

Fitch, Mrs Jonathan, . 

57 

Fitch Sarah, 


80 

Fitch, Ann, 

. 90-91 

Fit< h, Lewis, 


97 

Fitch, Mary. 

90-91 

Fitzgaines, Judge, 


96 

Fitch, Rebecca, . 

90 

Fitzgerald, Rev. J. H. . 


77 

Fitch, Captain Hall, 

54 

Foote, Rev Mr . 


78 

Fitch, Andrew, 

92 

Ford, Ira, 


56-58 

Fitch, Richard Hall, 

92 

Fowle, Rev John, 


78 

Fitch, Sarah, 

92 

Fox, Mrs Charles, 


94 

Fitch, Mary Esther, 

92 

Franklin. Benjamin, . 


94 

Fitch, Thaddeus Hill, . 

92 

French, Rev Louis, 


77 

Fitch, Jabez, 

Garth, General, . 

93 

PAGE 

27 

G 

Gregory, Francis H , 


PAGE 

46-47 

Gaylord, H B , . 

64 

Gregory, Dr. Ira, 


13 

Gibson, Rev Dr , 

77 

Gregory, Dr. James G , . 


47 

Golding, AC,. 

80 

Gregory, John, . 


47 

Gorham, Mrs Samuel, . 

57 

Grey, Mrs Alexander, . 


58 

Gracie, Archibald, 

46 

Green, Mrs Hannibal, . 


- 100 

Gray, Mary, 

72 

Griswold, Bishop, 

20 

Gregory, Jabez, . 

47 

Grinell, Richard, 


61 

Gregory, Jabez widow, 

57 

Grumman, Samuel, 


56-59 

Gregory, Moses, . 

47-56 

Grumman, Maria, 


59 

Gregory, Mrs Moses, . 

59 

Grumman, Mrs Joel, . 


63 

Haight, Dr. 

PAGE 

13 

H 

Hanford, Theophilus, . 


PAGE 

47 

Haight. Mrs William D 

57 

Hanford, Ebenezer, 


47 

Hall, Edwin, D. D , 

57 

Hanford, Hannah, 


47 

Hall, Betsey, 

64 

Hanford, Sarah, . 


47 

Hall, Hannah, 

91 

Hanford, Joseph, 


61 

Hall, Angenette, 

. 93-100 

Hanford, Ann, 


98 

Hall, Benjamin H , 

93 

Hanford, Haines. 


81 

Hancock, John, . 

94 

Hanford, Deborah, 


98 

Hancock, Madam, 

94 

Hanford, Joseph P., 


98 

Hanford, Huldah, 

36 

Hanford, Winfield Scott, 


98 

Hanford, Thomas, 

40-47 

Hatch, Stephen, . 


64 

Hanford, Elnathan, 

. 47-49 

Hannon, Mrs 


72 

Hanford, Mrs Elnathan 

. 49 

Harrington, William, . 


65 

Hanford, William, 

47 

Harrington, Fanny, 


72 

Hanford, Haynes, 

. 47-81 

Hayes, Ruth, 


33 

Hanford, Eleazar, 

47 

Hayes, Isaac, 


33-85 

Hanford, Ories, . 

47 

Hayes, Julia, 


65 

Hanford, Nehemiah, . 

60 

Hayes, Nathaniel, 


81 

Hanford, Samuel, Jr., . 

47 

Hayes, James. 


81 

Hanford. Thomas, 2d., 

47 

Haynes, William, 


98 

Hanford, Abraham 

47 

Haynes, Mary, 


98 




Hawks, Dr F L , 

Heacock, Elisha, 

PAGE 
. 65 


Hoyt, Rev Melancthan, 

107 

PAGE 

37-81 

11 


Hoyt, Zerubbabel, 

48-88 

Heacock, Ann, 

Hebbard, Rev George P , 

11 


Hoyt, Goodman, . 

48 

77 


Hoyt, Abby, 

56-58 

Hendricks family, 

88 


Hoyt., George, 

. 56-58.72 

Hitchcock, Joseph, Jr., 

68-81 


Hoyt, Mrs. George, 

72 

Hitchcock, Azubia. 

31 


Hoyt, Mrs Munson, 

57 

Hill, Captain John, 

33 


Hoyt, James A , . 

57-85 

Hill, Mrs Eben, . 

59 


Hoyt, Mrs Walter, 

. 58-87-88 

Hill, Captain Thomas, 

92 


Hoyt, Ann Eliza, 

58 

Hobart, Bishop, . 

21 


Hoyt, Asa, 

. 59-60-62 

Hoadly, Charles J., 

12 


Hoyt, Mary L , 

64 

Hoffman, Judge, 

18 


Hoyt, Mrs. Mary, 

72 

Hoffman, Dr. Richard K., 

45 


Hoyt, James A., . 

72 

Holly Home, 

17 


Hoyt, Eliza, 

72 

Hopkins, Hon Samuel M., 
Holmes, G & S H., 

46 


Hoyt, Simon, 

87 

59 


Hoyt, John, 

88 

Holmes, Henry, . 

72 


Hoyt, Samuel, 

88 

Holmes, Mrs. Henry, . 

72 


Hoyt, Rev. Ralph, Sr., . 

25 

Holmes, Sarah, . 

72 


Hoyt, James Moody, 

29-72 

Hone, John, 

42 


Hubbell, Joseph, 

56-72 

Horne, Bishop, . 

36 


Hubbell, Mrs. J. W., . 

72 

How, Rev Dr . 

67 


Hubbell, Susan, 

64 

Howland, Aspinwall & Co., 

11 


Hubbell, Frederick, 

, 72 

Hoyt, Goold, 

36-58-60-78 


Hubbell, Mrs. Samuel, 

62 

Hoyt, Thomas, . 

. 36-87-88 


Hunter, Mrs. George, . 

80 

Hoyt, Goold, Jr , 

36 


Hunter, Mrs. John B., . 

57 

Hoyt, Esther, 

36 


Huntington, Sarah, 

14 

Hoyt, Ebenezer D , 

36 


Humphrey, Louisa, 

58 

Hoyt, Munson, . 

36-35 


Hurlburt, Mrs. H., 

63 

Hoyt, Isaac, 

72-86 


Huske, Rev. J. C., 

14 

Hoyt, Charles, 

. 36-72-86 


Hurd, Hattie, 

72 

Hoyt, Mary, 

36-42 


Hyatt, Mrs. Albert, 

. 51 

Hoyt, Edwin, 

58 


Hyatt, Mrs. James W., 

58 

Hoyt, Mrs. Edwin, 

Ingersoll, Hon. R. I., . 

18 

PAGE 

46 

I 

Isaacs, Mary, 

PAGE 
. 52-85-87 

Ingersoll, Governor C. R., 

46 


Isaacs, Isaac S., 

60-62 

Isaacs, Ralph, 17-33-46-81-84,85-86 


Isaacs, Esther. . 

85-86 

Isaacs, Mary Rumsey, . 

46-85 


Isaacs, Sarah, . 

85-86 

Isaacs, Ralph, Jr., 

86 


Isaacs, Grace, 

85 

Isaacs, Elizabeth, 

33 


Isaacs, Sarah Scudder, 

86 

Isaacs, Benjamin, 37-40-56-60-85-86-100 


Isaacs, Judge Benjamin, 

86 

Isaacs, Charles, . 

37-86 


Isaacs, William, 

86 

Isaacs, Samuel, . 

52-87 


Isaacs, John, 

86 

Isaacs, Isaac, 

52-62-68-85 


Isaacs, Mrs. John, 

72 

Isaacs, Samuel Brown, 

Jackson, Alfred, 

52-85 

PAGE 
. 33-72 

J 

Jarvis, Amelia, . 

PAGE 

18-72 

Jackson, LeGrand, 

79-80 


Jarvis, Mary, 

. 18-30-72 

Jackson, Mrs. LeGrand, 

80 


Jarvis, William, Sr. , 

30 

Jackson, Edward M., . 

64-80 


Jarvis, Samuel, . 

30-81 

James, William K., 

56-62-64-70 


Jarvis, Samuel, Jr., 

81 

James, Peter, 

60-64 


Jarvis, Elizabeth, 

37 

James, Daniel, . 

62-64 


Jarvis, Nathan, 

56-60-63-64 

James, Ann, 

62 


Jarvis, Frederick, 

56-63 

James, Mercy, . 

64 


Jarvis, Miss, 

61 

James, Sally, 

62 


Jarvis, Betsey, . 

61 

James, Jemmy, . 

64-67 


Jarvis, Huldah, . 

61 

James, Mrs. Jemmy, . 

62 


Jarvis, Noah 

61 

James, Mrs. Andrew, . 

62 


Jarvis, Esther, . 

63 

Jarvis, Bishop Abraham, 

83 


Jarvis, Nathan, Jr., 

63 

Jarvis, Rev. William, . 

83 


Jarvis, Jane, M., 

63 

Jarvis, Hezekiah, 

. 18-60-64 


Jarvis, William H., 

63 

Jarvis, Lavinla, . 

18-72 


Jarvis, William O., 

63 

Jarvis, Sarah, 

. 18-56-72 


Jarvis, John H., . 

63 


108 




PAGE 


PAGE 

Jarvis, Catharine, 


63-72 

Jennings, Joseph H., . 

63 

Jarvis, Mrs. Bryant, 


63 

Jennings, Delia, 

63 

Jarvis, Mrs. Charles, 


72 

Jennings Julia Ann, . 

63 

Jeffeck, John (?), 


81 

Jennings, Lucretia, 

64 

Jelliff, William, . 


60 

Jennings, Eliza, 

03 

Jelliff, Thomas, . 


81 

Jennings, Mrs. Charles H., 

61 

Jennings, Jacob, 


60-62-63-64 

Johnson, Rev. W. L. 

12 

Jennings, Jacob, Jr., 


63 

Johnson, Rev. Evan M., 

15-78 

Jennings, Isaac, 


63 

Judd, Noah, 

13 

Jennings, Seth, . 


63-64 

Judd, Rebecca, . 

13 

Jennings, Gould D., 


. 56-63-72 

Judd, Rev. Dr 

65-78-89 

Jennings, George W., 


63 

Judd, Jonathan, 

65 

Jennings, William S., 


63 






K 




PAGE 


PAGE 

Keeler, Rev. James, 


28-83 

Kellogg, Epenetus, 

62 

Keeler, Aaron, . 


28-60 

Kellogg, Anna, . 

62-64 

Keeler, Amelia, . 


28 

Kellogg, Mrs William, 

72 

Keeler, Sarah, 


28 

Kellogg, Minnie, 

80 

Keeler, James, . 


37 

Kellogg, David, . 

81 

Keeler, Deborah, 


37 

Kemp, Rev. Dr. . 

18 

Keeler, Matilda, 


37 

Kemper, Rev. Jackson, 18-19-24-37-55 

Keeler, Ebenezer, 


44 

56-57 63-65-67 68-78-89. 


Keeler, Luke, 


57-68 

Kemper, Ann, 

18-19 

Keeler, Jemima, 


. 57-68 

Kemper, Louis, . 

18 

Keeler, Seth, 


60 

Kent Chancellor, 

41-44 

Keeler, Thomas, 


60 

Kent, Judge William, . 

41 

Keeler, Rhoda, . 


61 

Kent, Hannah R., 

44 

Keeler, John, 


68 

Kent, Elizabeth Bailey, 

41 

Keeler, Phineas, 


68 

Ketchum, Joseph, 

8-81 

Keeler, Benjamin, 


81 

Ketchum, Joseph, Jr , . 

81 

Keeler, Capt. Samuel, 


85 

Ketchum, Morris. 

95 

Keeler, Mrs. Joseph Kent, 

85 

Kimber, Rev Joshua, . 

58-77 

Kelodg, Joseph, . 


61 

Kimber, Mary, 

58 

Kellock, Nathaniel, 


61 

King, President Charles, 

45 

Kellogg, Dhniel.. 


61 

King, General Rufus 

45 

Kellogg, Samuel, 


61 

Knapp, J H., 

37 

Kellogg, Caroline, 


18 

Knapp, Mrs Burr, 

101 

Kellogg, Henry, . 


33 

Knight, Dr. Jonathan, . 

13-31 

Kellogg, Nathan, 


61 

Knox, Whitlock and Rockwell, 13 

Kellogg, Stephen, 


. 60-61-62 

Knox, Hugh, 

54 

Kellogg, Eseck, . 


. 56-61-62 

Knox, John LeGrand, . 

13-54 

Kellogg, Josiah, 


30-61-62-79 

Knox, Mrs John LeGrand, 

54 

Kellogg, William M., 


30 

Kroger Hannah, 

72 

Kellogg, James, . 


60 

Kroger, Katie, 

80 


L 


LaFayette, General, 

PAGE 

94 

Lewis, John, 

PAGE 

33 

Lally, George A , 

18 

Lines, Benjamin, • . 


85 

Lambert, David, 

45-60 

Lines, Esther, 


85 

Lambert, David, Jr., 

33 

Lockwood, Ebenezer, . 


14-59 

Lambert, Laurana, 

45 

Lockwood. Hannah, 


44 

Lambert, Elizabeth, 

46 

Lockwood, Peter, 


46 

Lambert, Susanna, 

. 41-45-46 

Lockwood, Colonel Buckingham 

, 31 

Lambert, David R , 

41 

Lockwood, Julia Abijail, 


46 

Lambert, Samuel F , 

41 

Lockwood, William B. E , 


46 

Langdon, Woodbury G,. 

45 

Lockwood, Colonel F. St. John, 

46 

Lawrences, 

42 

Lockwood. Elizabeth, . 


46 

Learning, Dr Jeremiah, 14-45-55-61-68 

Lockwood, Lambert, 


46 

78-89. 


Lockwood, Roe, . 


46 

LeGrand, Maria, 

30 

Lockwood, George R 


46 

Lees Lieutenant William, 

.84 

Lockwood, Israel, 


56-64 

Leonard, Charles T., . 

58-79 

Lockwood, Israel, Mrs 


72 

Leonard, Mrs Charles T., 

58-63 

Lockwood, Mrs George, 


57-98 

Leonard, Louise, 

78 

Lockwood, Sarah, 


57 

Lewis, Rev. A. N , 

76 77 

Lockwood, Mary, 


57 





109 


PAGE 


PAGE 

Lockwood, James, 

57 

Lockwood, Mrs. John, . 

62 

Lockwood, Mrs Charles S., 

57 

Lockwood, Joseph, 

81 

Lockwood, Dorinda, 

58-72 

Lockwood, Ephriam, . 

81 

Lockwood, Eliza, 

72 

Lorillards, 

42 

Lockwood, Edwin, 

59 

Lounsbury, John D , . 

59 

Lockwood, Emily, 

72 

Lucas, (Slave), 

52 

Lockwood, Charles, 

59 

Ludlow, Roger, . 

34 

Lockwood, Mrs LeGrand, 

66 

Lyman, General William, 

18 

Lockwood, Mrs Dr. W. A., 

72 

Lyman, Jerusha, 

18 

Lockwood, Carmi, 

72 

Lyndhurst, Lord, 

11 

Lockwood, Mrs Carmi, 

72 

Lynes, Dr Samuel, 

13-72 

Lockwbod, Edward K , 

79-83 

Lynes, Samuel, . 

72 

Lockwood, John, 

60 




M 



PAGE 


PAGE 

MacClelland, Robert, . 

61 

Mead, Rev Dr., .19-21-24-25- 

29-32-63-65 

MacClure, Sally, . 

63 

67-78. 


MacDonough Commodore 

15 

Mead. Maria Harlan, . 

21-72 

MacDonough, Sons, 

15 

Mead, Jane Maria 

21-32 

MacGregor, Mrs Sarah, 

70 

Mead, Mrs. Theodore, . 

21 

MacLean, Dr J A , 

. 13-56-72 

Mead, Mrs. Abijah 

63 

MacLean, Mrs Elizabeth 

30-64 

Merrill, Mrs Thomas. . 

72 

MacLean, Margaret, 

. 30-64 

Merrill, Edward, 

41 

MacWhorter, Ann, 

10 

Merrill, St John 

. 77-79-80 

Mallory, James, . 

41 

Merrill, Mrs St John. . 

80 

Mallory, Mrs James, . 

43-98 

Merrill, Homer . 

79 

Mallory, Alfred, 

41 

Merrill, Anne P . 

78-80 

Mallory, William, 

56-58-102 

Merrill, Laura P., 

80 

Mallory, John, . 

58 

Merrill, Ellen 

80 

Mallory, Mrs Angenette, 

72 

Messenger Mrs Edward. 

63 

Many, Dr C W , . 

78 

Meserole Catalina, 

58 

Marquand, Isaac, 

64 

Meyrick Rev H L., 

76-77 

Marvin, Josiah, . 

40 

Mills. S F.. 

. 56-58-70 

Marvin, Samuel, 

40 

Mills, Andrew, 

81 

Marvin, Matthew, Sr.. . 

40-61 

Mills, William. . 

81 

Marvin, Matthew, Jr . . 

40-52 

Miller Dr. Phineas 

13-27 

Marvin, Reynold 

40 

Mitchell. Mrs Thomas, 

59 

Marvin, Elizabeth. 

40-53 

Mitchell Mrs Lydia 

72 

Marvin, General Elisha, 

40 

Moore Bishop 

12-18 

Marvin, Judge Richard P., 

40 

Moore Francis, . 

46 

Marvin, Judge William, 

40 

Moores Mrs Thomas. . 

58 

Marvin, Dudley, 

40 

More Hannah 

59 

Marvin, Sarah, . 

40 

Montgomery. Dr. Henry E , 

45 

Marvin, Daniel, . 

40 

Montgomery, Rev W W.. 

77 

Marvin, William, 

40 

Montgomery Deborah Ann 

72 

Marvin, Jared, . 

40 

Morgan Dr. William F., 

65 

Marvin, John. 

40-84 

Morgan Hannah, 

34 

Marvin, Abijail, . 

4'* 

Moody. W. S.. 

97 

Marvin, Barnabas, 

60-64 

Moody. W S Jr.,. 

78 

Marvin, Stephen, 

. 60-62 67 

Mott, Reuben, 

60-62 

Mason. John. 

88 

Mott, Stephen, 

56 

Matthews, Mrs. Charles D., 

37 

Mott, Rev Mark, 

61 

Maybury, Mrs., . 

. 56-58 

Mott, Mark 

61 

Maybury, Grace, . 

58 

Mott, Mrs Langdon, 

64 

Maybury, Lucy, . 

58 

Muhlenbergh Dr.. , 

65 

Maybury, Mary, . 

. ' 58 

Murray, Mrs. Sarah, 

100 

Maxwell, Dr. 

45 




N 


Nash, Micajah, . 


PAGE 

34-40 

Nash, Daniel C., . 


PAGE 

79 

Nash, Edward, . 


33-62 

Nash, Dr David H., 


13 

Nash, Nathan, . 


, • 81 

Nash, Lucinda, . 


57 

Nash, John, 


34-60 

Nash, Noah, 


. 59-62 

Nash, Daniel, 


34-60-67-68 

Nash, Mrs 


60 

Nash, Edward, . 


34-68 

Nash, Dennis, 


64 

Nash, Andrew C., 


. 34-68 

Nash, Frederick H., 


64-68 

Nash Jennie, . . 


64 

Nash. Anna, 


94 


110 



PAGE 


PAGE 

Nash, Sally, 

72 

Newkirk, James. 

57 

Nash, F H.. 

37 

Newkirk, Mrs. Janies C , 

63 

Newkirk, Mrs G. H., 

. 57-72-98 

Nichols, Rev Dr Samuel, 

17 

Newkirk, Conrad, 

64 

Nichols, Rev. George W., 

17 

Newkirk, Mary. . 

60 

Noyes, Dr 

13 


o 




PAGE 


PAGE 

Obadiah (Slave), 

52 

Olmstead, Silas, . 

65 

Ogden, Rev David, 

Ogden, Rev Abel. 

65 

Olmstead, Noah, . 

94 

65 

Olmstead, S. E., . 

82-94 

Ogden, Mrs G Parish, . 

100 

Olmstead, Nathan, 

81 

Ogilvie. Dr John. 

, 10-11-78 

Olmstead Richard, 

88 

Ogilvie, Rev George, 

. 10-11-78 

Onderdonk. Bishop, 

18-65 

Ogilvie, Elizabeth, 

10-11 

Orcutt, John. 

72 

Ogilvie, Amelia, . 

10 

Osborn, Jacob, . 

61-62 

Ogilvie, John, 

10 

Osborn, Charles, 

. 61-62 

Ogilvie, Mrs. 

27 

Osborn, Charles F., 

18-30-61-78 

Olmstead, Asa, . 

65 

Osborn, Mrs. Charles F., 

62 

Olmstead, Betsey. 

65 

Osborn, Clarence F., 

30 

Olmstead, David W., 

65 

Osborn, Maria, 

62 

Olmstead, Julia . 

65-72 

Osborn, Eliza Ann, 

62 

Olmstead, Fannv, 

65 

Osborn, Enos, 

48 

Olmstead, Charles, 

65 




p 




PAGE 


PAGE 

Parsons, General S. H , 


26 

Platt, Zephanla, . 

41 

Parsons, Henry. . 


56-58 

Platt, John, 

60-62 

Parsons, Daniel, 


72 

Platt, George, 

71-72 

Partrick, John. . 


56-81 

Platt, Caroline, . 

72 

Partrick, Celina, 


72 

Platt, Belle. 

72 

Partrick, Mrs Charles, 


72 

Platt, Joseph. 

84 

Partrick, Julius F„ 


80 

Platt, Esther. 

93 

Partrick, Mrs. Julius F., 
Partrick, Richard. 


80 

Pennoyer, Richard, 

56-59 


81 

Perry, Dr. Samuel, 

. 13-14-30 

Parker Dr., 


63 

Perry, Dr Nehemiah, 1st., 

13 

Parker Grace. 


63 

Perry, Dr Nehemiah. 2d., 

13 

Parsells. Jesse 


80 

Perry, Dr Nehemiah, 3d., 

13 

Pattison, Rev Eugene, 


24 

Perry, Esther. 

. 30-31 

Pearson, William. 


81 

Peet, Frederick T., 

46 

Peck, Captain Curtis, Sr., 


58 

Pierson, Mr , 

64 

Peck, Captain Curtis, Jr. 


58 

Phillips, Hon. Frederick, 

27 

Peck, Gallatian . 


58 

Phillips, Mr , 

27 

Peck, William Henry, . 


58 

Pinkney, James W., 

72 

Peck, Jonathan. . 


58 

Pinkney, Mrs James W., 

72 

Peck, Jonathan Richard, 


58 

Pinkney, Emily, . 

30 

Peck, Thomas L. Sr., 


58 

Post. Mrs. . 

72 

Peck, Thomas L. Jr., . 


58 

Prowitt, H. M , . 

40-90 

Peck, Anna. 


58 

Prowitt, Matilda, 

72 

Peck, Elijah. 


58 

Provost. Bishop. . 

10 

Peck, Charles. 

• 

58 

Purves, Rev John, 

29-65 

Peck, William, . 


53 

Putman, General, 

26 

Platt, Elizabeth. . 


41 

Pyne, Rev. Smith, 

45 



Q 




PAGE 


PAGE 

Quigley, Adelaide, 


57 

Quintard, Mrs. Eli S., . 

59 

Quigley. Mrs. John, 

' 

72 

R 




PAGE 


PAGE 

Raymond, Josiah, 


16-67 

Raymond, Mrs Stephen, 

. 57-98 

Raymond, Hannah. 


27-41-89 

Raymond, Charles F., . 

58 

Raymond, Elizabeth, . 


41 

Raymond, Mrs. Charles, 

66 

Raymond, Esther, 


41-72 

Raymond, Samuel, 

60-62 

Raymond, George A., . 


51 

Raymond, Mrs. Murrain, 

65 

Raymond, Marvin, 


56 

Raymond, Mrs. Jabez, . 

. 94-101 


PAGE 

Raymond, Mary Esther, . 97-101 

Raymond, Jabez Fitch. , 97-101 

Raymond, George, . , 101 

Raymond, Platt, . . .101 

Read, Mary. ... 58 

Reed, Stephen. . . . 16-17 

Reed, Esther. ... 33 

Reed, John, ... 40 

Reed Matthew, . . . 40-60-62 

Redfield. Mr., ... 64 

Relf Ann ... 18 

Richards .... 90 

Richmond, Rev James C., 20-65-68-78-89 
Richmond Sarah. . . 45 

Richardson Mrs. Professor, . 42 

Riggs Rev. Edward, . . 77 

Roberts. Rev. W. C., . . 77 

Roberts. Betsey, . . .101 

Roe Elizabeth, . . 46 

Rockwell Gould. . 13 

Rogers. James 1st , . . 44-46 

Rogers James, 2d., . . 44 

Rogers, James 3d., . . 44-47 


Rogers, Nehemiah. 16-17-41-43-44-45-46 
47 


Rogers Nehemiah, Mrs., 16-17-41-42 
43-44 45-46-47-98. 


Rogers, Fitch 

16-45 

Roger's, Fitch, Jr., 

17 

Rogers, Moses, . 

17-44-45-46 


PAGE 

Sammis, Elizabeth. . . 63 

Sam mis, Selectman, . . 63 

Sanford, Betsey, ... 63 

Saunders, John, . . . 60-62-81 

Saunders, John. Jr., . . 60 

Saunders, Holmes, . .49-60-64 

Saunders, Leroy. . . 81 

Scribner, Benjamin, . . 59 

Scribner, Charles, . . 41 

Scribner. Uriah. ... 59 

Scribner, Uriah Rogers, . 59 

Scribner, Thomas, . . 59 

Scribner, John. ... 59 

Scribner, Abraham, . . 59 

Scribner, Matthew. . . 59 

Scribner, Mrs. Jacob, . . 94 

Scribner James H , . 56-59 

Schermerhorn Miss . . 30 

Scudder, Isaac. ... 86 

Scudder, Sarah. ... 86 

Seabury Bishop. . . 10-44 

Sellon Edward. . . 16-17 

Selleck, Mrs. Eliza. . . 37-72 

Selleck, Mrs Andrew, . . 65 

Selleck, Lilia. . . . 80 

Selleck George Ward, . . 79 

Seymour. Isaac G.. . . 12 

Seymour, James. . . 37 

Seymour, John. ... 85 

Seymour, Uriah. . . 37-40 

Seymour, Mrs. Uriah, . . 62 

Sherman, Captain John, . 42 

Sherman, Joseph. . . 42 

Sherman, William, . . 42 

Sherman, Josiah. . . 42 

Sherman, Roger M. . 42 

Sherman, Hon. Roger, . . 42 



111 


PAGE 

Rogers, Henry, . 

i7-45 

Rogers, Dr. Uriah, Sr , . 

. 41-42-59 

Rogers, Dr. Uriah, Jr., . 

. 41-42-44 

Rogers, Hannah, 

41 

Rogers, David, 

42 

Rogers, David. 2d., 

42 

Rogers, Captain Moses. 

42 

Rogers, Hon Hezekiah, 

42 

Rogers, Harriett, 

16 

Rogers, Sarah, . 

17 

Rogers, Dr. John Smith, 

17-46 

Rogers, Mary, 

44 

Rogers, Esther. . 

44-46 

Rogers, Jedediah, 

44 

Rogers, Edward, . 

44 

Rogers, Stephen,. 

44 

Rogers, Aaron, . 

44 

Rogers, Claron. , 

44 

Rogers, Samuel. . 

44-45 

Rogers, Dr John. 

66 

Rogers, Nathaniel. 

47 

Rogers, John 

47 

Rogers, Daniel Dennison, 

47 

Rogers, Isaac 

61 

Rogers, Freelove. 

46 

Rowland, Andrew, 

95 

Rowland, Elizabeth, 

95 

Rowland, Henry, 

95 

Rumsey Mary, . 

, 85 

Ruscoe, John, 

49 


s 


PAGE 

Sherman, Taylor, . . 36-42 

Sherman, Charles R.. . . 36-77 

Sherman. General William T., 36 

Sherman, Hon. John . . 36 

Sherwood, Rev. Dr., 16-17-31-45-65-78 
Sherwood, Mrs. Rev. Dr.. . 16-17-45 
Sherwood, Catharine, . . 45 

Sherwood, John ... 81 

Sherwood, Elizabeth, . . 33 

Sherry, Charles, . . . 33-56-72 

Sherry, Charles Jr.. . . 72 

Sherry, Mrs. Charles, . .33-57-72 

Shelton, Dr. William. . . 65 

Shelton Rev. Philo. . . 65 

Shephard. Mrs. Edwin, . 72 

Shultz Mrs. ... 72 

Sigourney. Elizabeth, . . 54 

Simpson Joseph, . . 85 

Smith, Kilyard, . . . 59 

Smith, Eliakim, . . . 59 

Smith, Abigail, ... 59 

Smith, Noah, ... 59 

Smith, Mrs. Noah, . . 59 

Smith, Asa, ... 59 

Smith, Stephen, . . . 17-59 

Smith, Henry W., . . 56-59-72 

Smith, Mrs. Henry W., . . 61 

Smith, George E.. . . 59 

Smith, Rufus. ... 58 

Smith, Ward ... 59 

Smith, Sidney, ... 59 

Smith, Eliza Jane, . . 59 

Smith, Asa E.. . . .58-70 72 

Smith, Mrs. Asa E.. . . 72 

Smith, Theodore E., . . 32-72 

Smith, Mrs. Theodore, . . 80 

Smith, Elinor L., . . 78-80 


112 


PAGE 

Smith, Anna, . . , 58 59 

Smith, Hon. Asa. . . 78-79 

Smith, Carrie, . . . 78-80 

Smith, Millie, ... 80 

Smith, Morgan T.. . . 50 

Smith, Mrs. Morgan, . . 59 

Smith, Jess, ... 58 

Smith, Mrs. Jess, . . 72 

Smith, Jess. 2d., ... 58 

Smith, Samuel, ... 44 

Smith, Banks, . . .56 58 

Smith, Harriett, . . 58 

Smith, Emma, ... 72 

Smith, Mrs. Hannah L., . 80 

Smith, Nathan, ... 81 

Smith, William, ... 87 

Smith, Dr. William, . 12-18-65-69-94 
Smith, Mrs. Edward, . . 66 

Smith, Henry, ... 66 

Smith, William D., , . 66 

Smith, William H., . . 78-79 

Smith, Charles R., . . 16 

Smith, Dr. John, . . 17 

Skiddy. Mrs. Sarah L., . 32-59 

Skidmore Mrs. Nancy, . 72 

Somers Rev. D. . . . 32 

Spencer Rev. William G., D.D., 101 

Street, Nathaniel, . . 60-63 

Street, Esther ... 63 

Street, Samuel. ... 63 

Street, Joseph, ... 63 

Street, John. ... 63 

Street, William J. . 56-62-63-64 

Street, Mrs. William J., . 72 

Street, Cliauncey, . . 63-72 

Street, Edward, ... 63 

Street, Mrs. Edward, . . 72 

Street. Emily. ... 64 

Street, Alonzo W., . . 56-58 

Street, Elizabeth. . . 56-58 

Street, Mrs. William C., . 72 

Street. Eli K., . . 57 


PAGE 

Stone Hugh, ... 81 

St. John, William, . . 33-56-57 

St. John, Mrs. William, 18-57-72-98 
St. John, Stephen B., . . 57-98 

St. John, Charlotte. 18-56-57-72-86-98 
St. John, Frances B., . . 18 

St. John, Charles E., . . 33-78 

St. John, Mrs. Charles E., . 33-78 

St. John, Mathias, Sr., . 57 

St. John, Mathias. Jr., . 57 

St. John, Matthew, . . 57 

St. John Frederick, . . 57 

St. John, Stephen, . 86-98-100 

St. John, Mrs. Stephen, . 100 

St. John, Catharine, . . 58 

St. John, David. . . 60-70 

St. John, Mrs. Nancy, . . 72 

St. John, Mary. . . 62 

St. John, Mrs. Charles, . 63 

St. John, Mrs. William, . 63 

St. John, Nellie. . . 80 

St. John, Joseph, . . 86 

St. John, Joseph, . . 86 

St. John. Elizabeth, . . 86 

St. John, Susannah, . . 86 

St. John, Henrietta, . . 100 

St . John. Julia Ann, . .' 100 

Starr J B.. . . . 56-58 

Staats Mrs. B E.. . 21-72 

Stevens James. . . 18-56-59 

Stevens Ebenezer, . . 59 

Stevens Talmadge. . . 56-58 

Stevens Lawrence, . . 56-57-58 

Stevens. Harriett. . . 58 

Stevens, Miss Sarah L., . 80 

Stevens. Charles, . . 56-59 

Stephens Anna E., . . 94 

Stewart William Pinckney, . 42 

Stone. Rev James Kent, . 42 

Stone Dr John S., . . 44 

Squires, Seeley, . . 60-62 


T 


Taylor, Paul, 

PAGE 
. 58-60-65 

Todd Rev. Charles J., 

PAGE 

65-101 

Taylor, Alfred, . 

. 55-58-65 

Torrence. Rev. G. P., . 

77 

Taylor, Lewis, . 

56-58 

Tower Hill, (slave). 

52 

Taylor, Levi. 

94 

Townsend, Rev. Epenetus, . 

7 

Taylor, Thomas H. 

94 

Townsend Rev. John, 

77 

Taylor, Uriah. . 

64 

Thomas. William G., . 

61 

Taylor, Tvlrs Solomon, G., 

63 

Trowbridge Nancy. 

63 

Terrell Harvey P., 

72 

Trumbull, Governor, . 

26-98 

Thatcher, Josiah. Jr., 

60-62 

Trumbull. Dr. John. . 

94-98 

Thatcher. Thomas Fitch, 

93 

Tucker. Mrs. Charles, 

58 

Tibbitts Mrs. Rev. John B 

, 100 

Tuttle. David, . 

40 

Tiffany. Mrs Samuel, 

21 

Tweedy, Mrs., . 

94 

Todd, Dr Ambrose, 

17-65-101 



V 



PAGE 


PAGE 

Van Antwerp, Nicholas, 

63 

VanKleeck, Rev. Frederick B., 

24 

YanAntwerp, Edwin, . 

63 

VanRaust, Catharine, . 

46 

VanDuzer, Nancy. 

59 

VanRensselaer, Stephen, 

46 

VanDuzer, Charles, 

56-59 

Van Rensselaer, Col. William P 

, 46 

VanDuzer, Whitlock, . 

59 

VanRensselear, Mrs. Col. Win., 

46 

VanDuzer. Mary, 

59 

VanZandt, Julia, 

57 

VanKleeck, Dr. Robert, 

24 

Vibbert, Rev. Dr. William D. 

76-77 


113 


W 



PAGE 


PAGE 

Wainwright, Bishop, . 

. 45 

Whitlock Caroline, 

12 

Wakeman, Mrs. Dr. 

58 

Whitlock, Henrietta. . 

13 

Walker, Rev Millidge, 

77 

Whitlock, Lucy Ann, . 

13 

Walker, Rev. W. W. 

77 

Whitlock, John Henry, 

13 

Warren, Edmond, J., . 

53 

Whitlock Fanny, 

18-59 

Warren. Edmond, Jr., 

53 

Wilcoxson, Colonel A. H., 

72 

Warren, Eliakim, . 52 53-60-04-100 

Wilcoxson, Mrs. A. H., 

72 

Warren, Phebe, 

52-61-100 

Willett, Amelia, 

10 

Warren, Nathan, 

53 

Williams, Bishop John, 

24-76 

Warren. Mrs Nathan, 

. 34-100 

Williams, Rev. John R., 

. 34-76-77 

Warren, Dr Nathan B. 

100 

Williams, Reuben A., . 

41-64-72 

Warren, Stephen, 

100 

Williams, Mrs. Reuben A., 

57-80 

Warren, George Henry, 

100 

Williams, Henry. 

80 

Warren, Hon Joseph M., 

100 

Williams, Amelia, 

80 

Warren, John Hobart, 

100 

Williams, John, 

81 

Warren, John, . 

52 

Wilson Nathan, . 

60 

Warren, Jacob, 

52 

Wilson, Ebenezer, 

61 

Warren, Mary, . 

52 

Wilson, Samuel. . 

61 

Warren, Hannah, 

52 

Wilson, Lewis 0., 

40 

Washington, General,. 

. 26-37-85 

Wilson, Mrs. Lewis O., . 

72 

Weaver, Millicent M , 

80 

Winslow, John, . 

14 

Webster, Edwin B., 

11 

Wiseman, James, 

72 

Webster, Annie E , 

11 

Winthrop, Governor Thomas L., 17 

Webster, Lieutenant George 

0., 11 

Winthrop. John, 

88 

Webster, Edwin B. U. S. N., 

11 

Winthrop, John S., 

16 

Weeks, Mrs. Eliza, 

63 

Winthrop, Henry R., 

10-17 

Weeks, Carlysle, 

63 

Winthrop, Francis B., . 

17 

Wentworth, Edward, . 

60-62 

Winthrop, Edward, 

17 

Wheater, Mrs , . 

72 

Winthrop, Charles, 

17 

Wheeler, Mrs., . 

62 

Wolcott, General. 

26 

Wheeler, Lottie, 

80 

Wolseley, Sir Garnet, . 

58 

Whelples, David, 

81 

Wood, William, . 

37 

White, Bishop William, 

18-21 

Wood, Julia Ann, 

34 

White, Peter, 

. 37-60-63 

Wood, Noah, 

51 

White, Samuel, . 

37-60-63 

Wood, Margaret, 

. 72 

White, G. Willis, 

30-37 

Woolsey, Mrs. Benjamin, 

46 

White, Mary Ann, 

62 

Woolsey, Sarah, . 

46 

White, Charles B., 

86 

Wooster, General, 

26 

Whitehead, Mrs. Nathan, 

63-72 

Wright, Obadiah, 

60-64 

Whitlock, John . 

13 

Wright, Dennis, . 

68 

Whitlock, Rev. Henry, 12-13-14-24-78 
Whitlock, Mary Elizabeth, . 12-45 

Wright, Albert Burr, 

96 


Y 


Yarrington, Rev. Benjamin M., 37-65 




























. . ' 


















. 





- 









/ 






















SUPPLEMENTAL INDEX. 


Belden, John, 


38 

Isaacs, Charles, . 

39 

Belden, Isaac, . 


38 

Jarvis, Hezekiah, 

38 

Belden. Henry, . 


38 

Kane, Dr. Elisha Kent,. 

49 

Betts, Fitch, 


39 

Kent, Moss, 

37 

Betts, Mrs. Fitch, 


39 

Kent, James, L.L. D., . 

. 37-49 

Betts, Esquire, . 


37 

Mallory, Lewis, . 

38 

Bissell, Governor, 


37 

Mallory, Mrs. Charles, 

39 

Brown, James, . 


38 

Olmstead, Mary, 

53 

Bryan, Richard, 


38 

Philips, Ebenezer, 

38 

Burritt Grounds, 


37 

Rogers, Dr. Uriah, Sr. . 

49 

Cannon, Samuel, 


37 

Reed, John, 

53 

Cannon, John, Jr., 


37 

Reed, Thomas, . 

53 

Cannon, James, . 


38 

St. John, Joseph, 

38 

Camp, Mrs. Jonathan, . 


38 

St. John, William, Sr., . 

37 

Derby, Miss, 


53 

St. John, William, Jr., . 

37 

Fitch, Governor, 


39 

Street, William Jarvis, 

38 

Grumman, Mr., . 


38 

Street, Edward H., 

37 

Hanford, Mrs. Thomas C., 


39 

VanBuren. Robert, 

38 

Hoyt, Ebenezer, . 


37 

YanRenssalear, John C., 

49 

Isaacs, Ralph, . 


39 

Warren, Eliakim, 

. 40-53 


Several of the errors noted on the succeeding page (page one hundred and 
fifteen) have been subsequently corrected. 

Page seventeen, note four, instead of “1,600 have” read “1,600 funerals had, 
etc.” 

Page eighteen, Dr. Kemper note, line thirty, instead of “only two months,” 
read “only ten months.” 

Page fifty-five, lower note, last line, instead of “books” read “brooks.” 

The last statement in note five, page sixty-seven, is incorrect. The first 
church, which was afterward converted into a parsonage, was burned in 1779. 
A second parsonage was erected. In 1809, there was an ‘old house’ which stood 
back of the parsonage of 1806. This (old parsonage probably) was given, by 
the parish, to Rev. Mr. Whitlock. 

Page one hundred and twenty-four, middle paragraph, instead of “(page 
ninety)” read “(page ninety-one.)” 





Corrections and Additions. 


Page 9, paragraph two, line one, instead of “1774” read “1784.” 

Page 12, last note, instead of “serving” read “having served.” 

Page 41, note one, line twenty -six, instead of “Mrs. Rogers’’ 
read “Mr. Rogers.” . 

Page 43, upper note, line thirty-one, read “Mr. Thomas Fitch.” 

Page 45, note two, line nine, instead of “Dr. Smith Payne” read 
“Dr. Smith Pyne.” 

Page 47, note one, instead of “he came, etc.,” read “the Mar- 
vins and he came over in the same ship;” and in note five, instead 
of “1882” read “1782” and in note seven, instead of “deed” read 
“deeds.” 

Page 53, paragraph two, the name of Amelia, a sister of Rev. 
Mr. Jarvis, should be inserted. 

Page 54, paragraph two, last line, for “altar” read “altarfire. ” 

Page 57, note three, line five, instead of “there was” read “there 
were.” 

Page 63, Jacob Jennings note, line nineteen, instead of “Law- 
rence” read Laurana. 

Page 64, note one, after “sisters” read “or sisters-in-law.” 

Page 66, note three, line two, instead of “were set out” read 
“was set out.” 

Page 71, paragraph three, instead of “1885,” read “1883.” 
The first amount named in this paragraph was raised for objects 
outside, and the second for objects within, as well as without 
the parish. 

Page 78, instead of Mrs. M. Louise Leonard” read “Miss M. 
Louise Leonard.” 

Page 80, instead of “Miss Anna B. Merrill” read “Miss Annie 
P. Merrill. ” 

Page 83, instead of “Beachman” read “Beacham.” 

Page 85, Ralph Isaacs’ paragraph, lines ten and eleven, instead of 
“Mary, Esther, Sarah and Isaac,” read “Mary, Esther, Sarah and 
Grace. ” 

Page 86, line fifteen, last word, instead of “Esther,” read “Eliza- 
beth,” and in same paragraph, on same page, last line but four, 
instead of words “Ralph, Jr., removed to Branford, New Haven 
County; and Grace the last child and daughter, etc.,” read 
“Ralph, Jr., removed to Branford, New Haven County, and Grace 
his daughter, etc. ” 


The last century there came, (see page thirty-six) as it seems, 
a young man of intelligence and industry, (from Hartford, tradi- 
tion says), to Norwalk. His name was Ebenezer Church. He was 
possessed of some capital, especially for those days, and select- 
ing, in 1744, a convenient location for the plying of an useful art, 
established himself in this section of the colony. One of the 
mothers of this parish sought, it is said, the stranger out, and 
invited him to attend St. Paul’s, and the result was that he was 
led, first, to take an interest in its services, and then to recog- 
nize the claims of the church. He was evidently a young man of 
character, and became an intimate, almost immediately, of one of 
the staunchest families of Norwalk. He married Susannah, 
daughter of John Fitch, Jr., (cousin of Governor Fitch), and two 
children, Daniel and Richard, were born to them. Mrs. Church 
died early in her wedded life. Her husband, whose clear, calm 
judgment must have won upon his cotemporaries, was elected, 
in 1751, with two such men as James Brown and Alexander Resi- 
quee, to “make up” parish accounts of years standing. He was 
elected to the vestry very soon afterwards, and, in 1757, was 
chosen church warden. He married for a second wife, the widow 
of Captain Sears. Mrs. Sears was a Ruth Raymond, of South 
Norwalk, (aunt of the late Charles Hoyt and of the mother of 
General William T. Sherman). By Captain Sears she had a son, 
Thatcher, who married a Long Island lady. During the Revolu- 
tionary War, Thatcher Sears removed to New Brunswick, and re- 
ceived a grant from the British Government. His first wife (by 
whom he had several children), died in the provinces, and he 
married again. The three children by the last wife are Robert, 
Edward and John. Robert (the bible publisher) lives in Toron- 
to, and Edward and John in New Brunswick. Mrs. Ruth (Sears) 
Church was the mother of Ebenezer, Jr., (a name of which the 
parish may justly be proud) and of his brothers Samuel, Josiah, 
Isaac, and John. There were several sisters also All of the sen- 
ior Ebenezer’s children are gone, and but three of his grandchil- 
dren remain, viz., William, who occupies the Josiah Church home; 
and Mary, who lives in the “new,” the second house that her grand- 
father built, and who, loyal to the Church blood, reveres the fam- 
ily traditions; and Charles, whose success as a New York business 
man has multiplied for many returning years. 

It is a family mention, that after the burning of Governor 
Fitch’s house, the widow, (second cousin, by marriage, to Ebenezer 
Church, Sr.) temporarily occupied the old, the first house that 


117 


Ebenezer Church built. It stood at the foot of the garden be- 
longing to the present Miss Mary Church. 

Attention in this next dissmissal paragraph, is directed to page 
twenty-seven, note three. In connection with the gift of St. Paul’s 
parish of “Mrs. Ogilvie and Mr. Phillips,” as there alluded to, is 
an interesting bit of history. The Hon. Verderych Felypsen, 
Patroon of Philipsborough (a portion of the ancient province of 
New York) came from Holland to America, in 1658. With General 
Stuyvesant and others he was one of the fathers of Nova Belgia 
(New York city.) He made heavy purchases of land in the new 
city, laying out the same in streets, and marking out building lots. 
He also bought a large tract on the east side of the Hudson, some 
thirty or forty miles above the city, and erected thereon an out-of- 
town mansion. His wife was Margaret Dacres, and he had two 
children, a son and daughter, Verderych and Eva. Verderych 
married first, a Hardenbrook, and for a second wife, a daughter of 
Stephen Van Corlandt of the Corlandt manor. Eva married into 
the same family. Verderych died, somewhere near 1700, and left 
Philip, and Adolphus Pliillipse. Phillip, as a child, was in delicate 
health, and his father had purchased an estate at Barbadoes, and 
sent him there. He died at about the age of forty -two, and left the 
son referred to in note on page twenty-seven. The child’s mother 
also died at about the same time, and the grandfather sent the 
young orphan to New York, and that he might not be tempted to 
again return to the Barbadoes the grandfather sold the island estate 
for about fifty thousand dollars. This Frederick died, in 1751, and 
left his property in New York city, and upon the Hudson, to his 
namesake son, Frederick, or in event of Frederick having no heir, 
to his second son, Philip. Frederick, however, married. He died, 
in 1768, and his widow married the Bev. John Ogilvie who had had 
temporary charge, in 1749, of St. Paul’s church, and was the father 
of the Rev. George Ogilvie (see note, page ten) rector of St. Paul’s, 
in 1790. This statement (condensed) is borrowed from an article 
(copied from the English press) in one of this country’s au- 
thentic genealogical works, and it reveals the probable fact that 
the last century “Mrs. Ogilvie and Mr. Phillips” donors to St. 
Paul’s Church were — mother and son — Mrs. (Phillips) Ogilvie and 
Mr. Frederick Phillips, the latter a descendant in the sixth gener- 
ation from the Knickerbocker patroon of 1658; while the statement 
(one of the Phillips married a Livington) may throw light also 
upon the of late years unaccounted-for “Phillip Livingstones” 
membership, at the same period, of St. Paul’s church. 




118 


The old New York Livingstones, and Phillipses, and Jays, and 
Frenches, and Ludlows, and Rutgers, and Van Hornes, were 
relatives, and some of them are of savory memory in Norwalk. 
Several of these families had temporary representatives in this town 
during the closing years of the eighteenth century; and the even- 
ing, or morning, as the case may be of General Tryon’s arrival, in 
1779, at Fitch’s Point, found General VanHorne and quite a com- 
pany of his connections enjoying (for the time being) comfortable 
quarters (now the Cowles home) on “the Green.” These facts 
suggest the conclusion that the “Phillip Livingston” of the ancient 
list, page two hundred and two, of the “members of the Epis- 
copal Society in Norwalk” may have been of this same family group ; 
and the owner and occupant, consequently, of the Livingston 
mansion which stood towards a hundred years since, in Park Place, 
New York city, and after Mr. Livingston’s death, was purchased by, 
and became the home of Goold Hoyt, of Norwalk, whose benefac- 
tion to this parish has been already mentioned. 

Mary, daughter of Frederick Phillips, of the afore-mentioned 
distinguished family combination,- married into the family of the 
Hon. Gouverneur Morris; and the fact that Norwalk was the home 
of some of the affinity may perhaps also account for the trusteeship 
in this place of the valuable property alluded to in the following 
note from the pen of Judge Jones: 

“Upon burning the town of Norwalk, a most elegant, large, 
beautiful, and well-collected library, an heir-loom belonging to the 
Morrisania family in the county of Westchester, which had for 
safety been removed to Norwalk, was pillaged, carried to New 
York, and disposed of.” Quoted by the “National Quarterly,” 
October, 1879, from Judge Jones’ History of New York. 


James Rogers, son of Dr. Uriah Rogers, Sr., (consult concluding 
portion of note two, page forty -two,) was, says Todd in his History 
of Redding, ‘ ‘ A prominent man in his day, and filled may respon- 
sible offices in town.”. He must have left Norwalk when a young- 
man, as he appears in Redding, in 1762. One week before Christ- 
mas day, 1789, he sold to Nathan Jarvis, the first treasurer of St. 
Paul’s parish, a portion of the home estate of his father, Dr. Uriah, 
Sr., now the pleasant site of the homes of Mrs. James Mallory, 
and Mr. Mannice B. Lockwood. The Rogerses, and the Couchses 
(Jonathan Couch, father of Norwalk’s Major-General, Darius N. 


119 


Couch), and the Fitche’s (Dr. Ashael Fitch, of the Norwalk Fitches, 
as the writer supposes, and father-in-law of Dr. Jonathan Knight), 
and the Davieses ( Dr. Thomas Davies, ancestor of the rector to-day 
of one of the most important parishes in Philadelphia, the Rev. 
Thomas F. Davies. D.D.), were old Redding residents. One of the 
Rogers homes in Redding became later the property of the father 
of the late Mrs. John Osborn. 

Dr. David Rogers, Jr., (see lower foot note page forty-two) son 
of Dr. David Rogers, of Greenfield Hill, whose visits to Norwalk 
are even now spoken of in this place, has a son-in-law still living at 
a very advanced age, in Redding. This individual, the venerable 
Jedediali Rogers Hawley, married, for his first wife, Deborah, 
daughter of Dr. David Rogers, J r. , and sister of one of the leading 
physicians of this country, the late San Francisco physician and port 
health officer, Dr. James H. Rogers, great-grandson of the senior 
Dr. Uriah Rogers, who lived, as before stated, on the Lockwood 
and Mallory properties, on Mill Hill. Mr. Jedediah R. Hawley’s 
second wife was the daughter of Moses Hill, of Redding, a relative 
of the late Dr. Moses Hill and his brother, Ebenezer, of Norwalk, 
both of whom were natives of Redding. 


Jacob Osborn, who is alluded to in notes on pages sixty-one and 
sixty-two, was the fourth member of the Osborn name ever attached 
to St. Paul’s parish. Osborn is an early American, but not an early 
Norwalk name. Richard Osborn, the settler, was a Londoner, and 
went first to the Barbadoes. He was twenty-two years old when 
he left Europe, and he reached the West Indies during the win- 
ter of 1633-4. Himself and several fellow emigrants seemed 
disappointed in their sovereign’s island possessions, and during the 
next twelve months, at least three of the “Hopewell’s” passengers 
embarked for New England. These three (Richard Osborn was 
one), proceeding directly to Massachusetts, went to the “Hingham 
settlement” in that colony. From Hingham, Mr. Osborn removed 
to New Haven, where he lived for some fourteen or fifteen years. 
He had two sons, John and David. John remained in Fairfield, and 
died there, in 1709. David crossed the state line and established 
himself below what is now called Pelhamville, in Lower Westchester 
County. He married Abigail, daughter of P hi ll i p Pinckney, of 
East Chester. One author states that he died in East Chester; 
another historian avers that after his marriage he claimed “that 
he belonged to the Connecticut jurisdiction, and removed there”; 
(to Ridgefield). In either case he died young. He left a son, 


120 


named for his grandfather, who, the parent of Peter Parley states, 
lived to be over one hundred years of age. This son, Richard, 2d., 
removed from Westchester County, to the vicinity of Ridgefield, 
and was the ancestor of Jacob Osborn, the clerk of St. Paul’s par- 
ish, and town clerk of Norwalk, and master of St. John’s Masonic 
Lodge. From the first Richard Osborn’s son John, Mr. John 
Osborn, who now resides with his son, Arthur, on West Avenue, 
traces his family line. Although Richard Osborn, Sr., came from 
London to America, yet the Osborn, or Osburn (Christopher 
Osborn) home abroad was in Duxbury. The town of Fairfield 
granted Richard Osborn, Sr. , eighty acres of land as a testimony of 
its appreciation of the public service he had rendered. 

There is a fact, which may be mentioned, concerning another 
name in foot note, page sixty-one. From the Samuel Wilson there 
referred to, the United States received the name of “Uncle Sam.” 
During the war of 1812, Mr. Wilson (see New England genealogical 
register) had extensive contracts with the government for the sup- 
ply of its army with salted food. He was formerly known as 
“Uncle Sam Wilson,” and the brand or mark by which the 
packages from his establishment were designated was U. S. (Uncle 
Sam). The term become a familiar one throughout the army, and 
was soon applied to the country itself. Mr. Wilson died in Troy, 
July 31st., 1854, aged eighty-eight. 


Note one, page sixty-four, calls for an explanation. Jennings, 
Redfield, Dimon, and Marquand are old Fairfield names. This 
town (Fairfield) was, so to speak, the capital of the county, and 
many of its founders were prominent colonists. Jacob Jennings’ 
sister-in-law (evidently), the widow of Dr. Seth Jennings, married 
John Redfield. John Redfield was son of James Redfield, who 
was son of forefather William Redfield, of Boston or its vicinity. 
The genealogy of the Redfields (see History of Fairfield County) 
was the first genealogy “compiled in this country.” Henry 
Marquand, who came to America from one of the English Channel 
islands, married the again (thus it appears) widowed sister-in-law of 
Jacob Jennings. Henry Marquand died, in 1772, and left but one 
son, Isaac. This son was the New York city jeweller, who, it is 
asserted, spent a portion of his early life in Norwalk with his uncle 
(by connection) Jacob J ennings. Isaac Marquand married a Perry 
of the same Fairfield family that Commodore Cannon married into, 


121 


and that Dr. Samuel Perry, of Norwalk sprang from. (Richard 
Perry was tlie founder; Nathaniel was Richard Perry’s son, and 
Joseph was the son of Nathaniel. Joseph [grandson of Richard] 
was the ancestor of the Norwalk and Ridgefield Perrys, and, on 
the mother’s side, of the Norwalk and Troy Cannons). 

Isaac and Mabel (Perry) Marquand were the parents of Henry 
and Frederick Marquand, one of whom has erected the Yale chapel 
which bears the family name. 

The Dimon family into which Goold Hoyt married, was another 
Fairfield family of worth, and between it, also and the Perry family 
there was intermarriage. 


At the close of the Isaacs paragraph, on page eighty-six, it is 
incorrectly intimated that Grace, the last daughter of Ralph Isaacs, 
Sr., was foremother of the New Haven Ingersolls. The correct 
statement would be (see erratta) that Grace, the daughter of Ralph 
Isaacs, Jr., was the Ingersoll ancestress. The youngest son of 
Ralph Isaacs, Sr., “merchant or trader” of Norwalk, and head of 
the warden-line of St. Paul’s parish, took his father’s name, and to 
him was bequeathed, after the parent’s occupancy of it, the home 
establishment. This son inherited the Isaacs South Norwalk prop- 
erty, also, which latter was afterward transferred to the wife of Dr. 
Timothy Dwight, president of Yale College from 1795 to 1817. 
This lady was a granddaughter of Ralph Isaacs, Sr. Mr. Isaacs’ 
second daughter, Esther, married Benjamin Woolsey, of Long 
Island; and Benjamin and Esther Woolsey had two daughters. 
One of these daughters, Mary, married Dr. Dwight, and the other, 
Sarah, married Moses Rogers. Dr. Dwight and Moses Rogers, 
therefore, were brothers-in-law. Their families became separated 
during the Revolutionary War, the former having removed to the 
provinces, and the latter residing in the cultivated and charming 
home (now the residence of Frederick Bronson, Esq. ) on Greenfield 
Hill. Both Mary and Sarah Woolsey were remembered by legacies 
of equal amounts in their grandfather’s will. Mr. Isaacs made 
generous and judicious bequests. To his widow he left a handsome 
amount in cash, and the income from an equal amount. Grace, 
the youngest child, and yet in her teens, was the recipient of 
several thousands, also. Benjamin and Ralph, Jr. were constituted 
executors of the estate, and made residuary legatees. The former, 
the distinguished free mason, died not long thereafter and, was 


fr 


122 


buried in St. Paul’s yard, and tlie latter removed to New Haven 
County. He named liis two daughters after, it is probable, his 
mother, Mary, and his sister, Grace. Grace (daughter of Ealph, 
Jr.,) married Jonathan Ingersoll, father of the New Haven Inger- 
solls, and it is possible that her sister, Mary, may have been the 
Mary Isaacs who married Timothy Jerome, not of the Jerome 
family of the state of New York, one of the members of which 
married into the old Reed family of Norwalk, but of that family 
which is represented by Thomas Spencer Jerome, Esq., now of 
Cambridge, Massachusetts. 

Benjamin Rumsey, of Fairfield, the father-in-law of Ralph 
Isaacs, Sr., bad a son, Joseph, and, it would appear, a son Benja- 
min, also. His daughter, Mary, Mrs. Ralph Isaacs, Sr. , who rests 
in the church yard, was great-great-grandmother of the present 
president of Yale College, Timothy Dwight. D.D., LL.T)., grand- 
son of Yale’s first president of the same name. 

The Norwalk Isaacs descendants are under the impression that 
there were two distinct families of settlers of that name in this 
land, and they are unquestionably correct in this particular. J oseph 
Isaacs, the first settler, appeared here as early as 1636. He died 
May 11th, 1612, leaving, Elizabeth a widow. She afterward mar- 
ried Nicholas Davis. There was a passenger to America, in 1634, 
in one of the Ipswich ships, by the name of Rebecca Isaacs. She 
was thirty-four years of age, and is supposed to have been sister of 
the first Joseph. There was also a Thomas Isaacs, a merchant in 
Boston, in 1672. A genealogist of the past writes thus: There is 
a “family of this name (Isaacs) at Norwalk, honorary in several 
generations, but it is believed their pedigree on this side of the 
ocean must not be found before the eighteenth century. ” There 
was an Isaac Isaacs who graduated at Yale, in 1750, and a Ralph, in 
1761, and a Benjamin, in 1781, and a Ralph, in 1784. The first 
two were, possibly, Ralph, Sr’s. , sons, and the last two, his grand- 
sons. 


Mrs. Samuel Isaacs (Mary Brown) mentioned on page eighty-seven, 
was granddaughter of John Ruscoe. The history of the Ruscoes, to 
which attention seems now to be directed, is one of interest. James 
Brown, the settler, married John Ruscoe’s daughter. Lieutenant 
William Lees married another daughter (Mahetabel). John Abbott 
married Ruth Ruscoe, and Sarah married a Ridgefield Rockwell. 


Rebecca Ruscoe died early, and Mary was probably unmarried. 
James Brown, 2d., and his brothers, Isaac, Elisha and John, were 
heirs, with the afore-mentioned, of the Ruscoe estate. Janies 
Brown, 2d., the attorney, married a New Jersey lady, and his 
daughter Mary was the Mrs. Samuel Isaacs who, with her brother 
James, has been several times referred to in this work. Ralph 
Isaacs, Sr., purchased, April 18th, 1757, James Brown’s north-west 
portion of the Isaacs property, and so became owner of the broad 
acres near “the great bridge,” and which extended from the present 
Water street to West avenue. 


In Hoyt paragraph, page eighty-eight, occurs the correctly 
quoted expression, “neare the backside of Norwalke.” It is very 
possible, however, that the reading of the same should be, near 
the “Bankside, etc.” There was, as early as 1658, “a place be- 
tween Fairfield towne and Norwalk,” called Bankside. 

Simon Hoyt, the settler, lived, before he came to this county, 
at or near Windsor, Connecticut. His mother (grandmother of Wal- 
ter, the first Norwalk Hoyt), was familiarly known in Windsor as 
“old Goody Hoyt.” She died in 1648. 


It will be observed, page ninety, that, after mention of the 
children of Thomas Fitch, Sr., the line of only one of his sons is 
followed down; but, for the benefit of the many citizens of this 
town who bear the Fitch name, the descent from the second son is 
here indicated. Thomas Fitch, Sr. , left two sons, viz. , Thomas, Jr. , 
and John. Thomas, Jr., has, as remarked, been traced down. 
John, the second son, married, in 1664, Rebekah (hence the favor- 
ite Christian name among the Norwalk Fitches) Lyndal, of New 
Haven. He was brother-in-law of John, son of Walter Hoyt, the 
Norwalk Hoyt forefather. John Fitch had three children, viz., 
John, Jr., Nathaniel, and Rebekah. Thomas, Sr. evidently out- 
lived his son Thomas, J r. , and a large portion of his estate went to 
John, who lived quite near his father, upon a narrow but deep 
home-lot, which extended west from Fast avenue. This property 
fell to his son Nathaniel, the earliest of the Fitch churchmen, and 
a generous donor to St. Paul’s parish. John Fitch, like his father 
Thomas, Sr. , was a man of means. At his death large tracts of 
land were left, particularly to John, Jr. ; and among these tracts 
were broad acres along the “Sticky Plain,” or still more ancient, 


124 


“Rattle Snake Pasture,” road. The children of John Jr., and 
Elizabeth Fitch, were Nathaniel, John, Elizabeth and Susannah. 
Their oldest son, Nathaniel, had a daughter Elizabeth, who married 
David King, of Newtown, and these (David and Elizabeth King) 
were the ancestors of the Fitcli-King line. The children of Na j 
thaniel and Ann, (son and daughter-in-law of John Fitch, Sr.) were 
John, Lyndal, Elizabeth (who married a Crane), Abigail and Mary. 
This supplementary mention leaves the Norwalk Fitches of the 
present day without excuse for failure to connect their different 
family lines with those of their ever to be venerated progenitors. 


On page ninety-one, paragraph two, it is stated that Thomas 
Fitch, Jr., died, in 1690. This assertion is substantiated, as the 
author has since ascertained, by the late Hon. James Savage, presi- 
dent of the Massachusetts Historical Society; and it is proper to add 
that this eminent genealogist declares further that Thomas, Jr., 
left Sarah, aged twenty-one, and Thomas, aged nineteen, and Mary, 
aged sixteen, and Samuel, aged two and-one-half years. This 
militates, perhaps, against the theory, (page ninety, ) that Thomas 
Jr’s, children died before the issue of their grandfather’s will. 
But the fact remains that no mention (other than that of Thomas) 
is made of them in that document, although Mary, had she been 
living, would, in 1696, (the date of the will) have been twenty-seven 
years old, and Mary twenty-two years old, and Samuel eight and- 
one-half years. Taking all the circumstances of the case into con- 
sideration, the fact that Thomas, Sr’s, other grandchildren (John’s 
children) are carefully remembered, and that no after record of any 
of Thomas, Jr’s, children, (male issue) other than Thomas (father 
of the governor) exists, (so it is believed) the author is content to 
let his theory stand. 


Through inadvertence, the name of James Fitch is unmentioned 
in the roll of Fitch churchmen, lines one and two, paragraph 
one, page forty-two. James was brother of Governor Thomas 
Fitch, and failure to supply the ommission alluded to would be 
injustice to the memory of one of the recorded supporters of St. 
Paul’s parish in early times. His brother, Samuel, Sr., was a 
helper (whether a member or no is not ascertained) of St. Paul’s. 
Thomas, the governor, was not a member. His name appears 
once upon our records, but only in the capacity of legal adviser to 
the parish in an unfortunate controversy in 1757. 


125 


The tenacity w ith, which the Norw alk Hopkins-Byxbee descent 
cling to the family traditions concerning their ancestry, has prompt- 
ed the author to careful research in this matter, and he is convinced 
that the statement in the last foot note, but one, in this volume 
(page 100) is not a “fabulous conceit, ” but that it has historical 
foundation. The only qualifications to the statement referred to, 
are, first, that the Hopkins, from whom the wife of Esaias Bouton 
and her Norwalk relatives sprang, w r as not governor, but assistant 
governor Hopkins; that is, that he was what in early New r England 
times was denominated governor’s “counsellor.” In such capacity 
he served, says Freeman, for four years; and the second reserva- 
tion is that Pliebe was not the name of his own, but of one of his 
great-grand-cliildren’s daughters. Stephen Hopkins w T as one of 
the original settlers of Massachusetts. He w r as accompanied to this 
country by his second wife, and son, Giles, and two men servants. 
These servants are notorious from the fact that they were the first 
New England duelist s; who, Savage, the historian, declares, w T ere 
punished, not by being put in the stocks, it is possible, but by being 
tied “neck and heels” and exposed to public gaze. 


Giles, son of Stephen, Sr. , married a Miss Wlielden. He died, 
in 1690. His son, Joshua, married, in 1681, a Mary Cole These 
(Joshua and Mary Hopkins) had a daughter, born, in 1702, by the 
name of Pliebe. The claim that this daughter was the mother of 
Mrs. Esaias Bouton, cannot, as the author thinks, be easily 
refuted. The date, the birth-place, the family, the record, the 
traditions, all conspire to establish the authenticity of the claim. 
There was another Barnstable County Phebe Hopkins, born, in 
1711, but she married a Bangs, and for a second husband, one of 
the same name. 

The Bouton home, at Belden’s Point, stood until about thirty or 
so years ago, and its “chimney ruins” can be recalled, it is presumed 
by many. Here, accepting w hat has been advanced, assistant Stephen 
Hopkin’s great-great-granddaughter (Mrs. Esaias Bouton) passed 
amid its marine surroundings many years of wedded life, and after 
life was done, was laid to rest, upon the hill which overlooks the 
old home. The plainly-marked Hopkins family plate was inherited 
by one of the Massachusetts Bay Hopkin’s sons, but portions of it 
found their way to the ownership of one of the Norwalk kindred, 
whose first name was Hopkins, and who removed from Norwalk to 
Ridgefield. 


126 


The old arm-chair, which stood upon the Sound-fronting porch, 
:t jiuikV now be seen, almost any summer day, upon the elm-shaded 
veranda of a descendant whose home is in the upper portion of 
the parish. A small painting of the vanished Bouton dwelling, 
by a descendant on the Hopkins side, is held in Norwalk. 


The following paragraph supplements foot notes pages fifty-three 
(address), and one hundred (appendix). 

Somewhat below Norwalk, and on the hither side of the Sound, 
is one of those shimmering sheets of water which so beautifully in- 
dent the northern coast of Long Island. At the sloping head, or 
upon the green sides of this bay was brought up, it is probable, the 
ancestor of the Norwalk Warrens. Edmond, the earliest Warren 
(Wareing) mentioned in Norwalk history, married, in 1698, Eliza- 
beth Bouton, a descendant of Matthew and Elizabeth Marvin, one 
of the founder-families of the town. The wedded ones repaired, 
evidently, to the Wareing Long Island home, and resided in Queens 
Village until after the birth of Isaac, their second son. They then 
came to Norwalk, and Mr. Wareing bought, in 1706, of the father 
of Governor Fitch, ‘ ‘for a valuable consideration” a plot of several 
acres at the “south end of Bhoton Hill. ” From that onward, until 
1745, he was a real estate accumulator, purchasing parcels of “two,” 
“six,” “seven,” “twelve,” “sixteen” “seventeen” and “eighteen” 
acres. There were nine children born after their removal to Nor- 
walk. The sixth Norwalk son, Eliakim, born, in 1717, married 
Ann, fifth child of John, son of Thomas (and Mary Olinstead) 
Heed, son of John Reed, who was born in England, in 1633, and 
who married, in this country, a Miss Derby, of Rhode Island. 
Eliakim and Ann (Reed) Warren were married December 7tli, 1738. 
They had these children (perhaps others), Zacheus, Jesse, Moses, 
Ann, Abigail, and Eliakim. The father died about a year before 
the marriage of his son, Eliakim. Abigail sold to this brother her 
portion (five and one-lialf acres) of the Roton Hill land inheritance, 
and in the presence of Colonel Thomas Fitch, Jr., deeded to him 
her share of the home heritage. This brother, Eliakim, (vestry- 
man) married, in 1771, Phebe Bouton, to whom several children 
were born. In 1798 the family removed to Troy, N. Y., leaving 
between the covers of St. Paul’s member-register the names of none 
whom the parish has greater cause evermore to hold in honored 
remembrance. 









t 










/ 




















/ 


































































